Cult horror movie Circle is getting a surprise sequel.
Released by Netflix in 2015 after the streamer acquired the distribution rights, the indie hit sees 50 strangers awaken to find themselves mysteriously propped up on platforms in a darkened room. Quickly, they realize that if any of them move from their designated spots, which are arranged around a dome in two concentric circles, they're promptly killed by a laser beam. Additionally, every two minutes, a person is killed at random unless the group vote (and agree) on a specific victim to be sacrificed.
Over the hour and a half that follows, they quiz one another on their lives as they chillingly try to decide who deserves to live, but as their numbers get down to single figures, tension rise as they realize only one of them can wind up walking away.
Julie Benz, who had previously appeared in Dexter, Desperate Housewives, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was undoubtedly the biggest name on the cast list, which also featured lesser-known actors Michael Nardelli, Carter Jenkins, Lawrence Kao, and Allegra Masters.
"It's obviously meant to entertain, but CIRCLE also opens up a dialogue about a lot of the issues we're talking about (or, should be talking about) these days: race, class, immigration, gender, sexuality, ageism, etc," Nardelli shared upon its digital release. "It's a weird movie that not everyone is gonna love, but I'm proud we all took a risk and made something different and unique, with hopefully at least a few shades of originality to it."
According to Variety, the follow-up, which is officially titled Circles and is set to kick off production later this year, will take place 17 years after the events of the original. "After being pawns in a cruel game of psychological warfare, the survivors of an invasion face a new threat," the synopsis reads.
Nardelli, who played Eric in the first film, is re-teaming with Brent Stiefel to produce the flick, while The Flash actor Devon Graye is writing the script. Given the premise of the movie, and their subsequent fates, it's highly unlikely that any of the cast outside Nardelli will return.
