Sydney Sweeney is moving fast after a breakout year at the box office, and her next project puts her at the center of one of America’s oldest ghost stories. This time, the story shifts focus. Instead of following the schoolteacher from past versions of Washington Irving’s tale, the film centers on Katrina Van Tassel, the woman long treated as the prize in the story.
Sweeney will star in Hollow, a modern retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the 1820 short story that introduced the Headless Horseman. According to Deadline, filmmaker Lindsey Anderson Beer sold Hollow as her debut novel to Putnam in a preemptive deal, pulling it off the market before an auction could begin. Beer will write and direct the film adaptation, with Sweeney also producing.
The timing lines up with Sweeney’s recent box office success. Her film The Housemaid earned more than $400 million worldwide on a reported $35 million budget, making it her biggest hit as a lead. That result puts her ahead of Anyone But You, which had been her prior high point. Not every project landed the same way. Americana struggled in theaters and moved quickly to streaming.
Sweeney’s upcoming slate includes The Custom of the Country, while HBO’s Euphoria recently ended its final season after a divided response from viewers. With those chapters closing, Sweeney is now stepping deeper into producing, a move that reflects a broader trend of actors taking control of their own material as studios lean on proven names.
Hollow stays within the mix of mystery and romance that has defined much of Sweeney’s recent work since her breakout role in The White Lotus. Beer brings experience in adapting known properties. She directed Pet Sematary: Bloodlines in 2023 and previously wrote Sierra Burgess Is a Loser.
Beer has said she avoids revisiting earlier film versions of the story, including Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. Instead, she draws from Irving’s original text and regional folklore from the Hudson Valley. She has been connected to a Sleepy Hollow project at Paramount since 2022, but Hollow marks the first time she brings her own original version from page to screen.
The film also launches Sweeney’s production company, Honey Trap, which was announced days earlier under a first-look deal with Sony. She runs the banner with producer Kaylee McGregor. The project adds backing from LuckyChap, the company behind Barbie, along with Beer’s Lab Brew.
The novel version of Hollow is set for release in fall 2027. The film is expected to hit the market soon, with studios likely to compete for distribution rights. In a market where recognizable titles and bankable stars often drive decisions, this project checks both boxes.
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English (US) · 