THR reports that Mikey Madison is in talks to star in The Masque of the Red Death, the upcoming reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tale from filmmaker Charlie Polinger. Sydney Sweeney was initially set to star in the movie, but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.
Sources tell THR that Madison would play “twin sisters in a story that sees a mad prince take in the noble class into his castle while a plague devastates the peasantry. The story sees a long-lost twin, hidden among the lower class, enter the castle and into a decadent world of orgies, opium, power schemes, revenge and decapitations.” Sounds like a blast. The film comes from A24, which will handle global distribution, with production by Picturestart. The Masque of the Red Death will shoot at the end of the year or in early 2026.
There have been several adaptations of Poe’s Masque of the Red Death over the years, the most famous of which is the Roger Corman movie starring Vincent Price, which was released in 1964.
Madison has had her pick of projects after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for Anora, but she’s quite selective about what she plans to tackle next. She was briefly in talks to play the villain in Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter, but ultimately passed on the project. She is attached to star alongside Kirsten Dunst in Reptilia, a new feature from Alejandro Landes Echavarría (Monos). The movie is about a dental hygienist seduced by a mysterious mermaid into the dark and wet underworld of Florida’s exotic animal trade. It’s based on a script by Landes Echavarría and Duke Merriman. Principal photography will commence this fall.
As I mentioned, Sweeney had to leave The Masque of the Red Death due to scheduling, and she certainly has a busy year. She’s still shooting the third season of Euphoria, where she’s back as Cassie Howard, and she’s also due to star in the upcoming live-action adaptation of Gundam from Legendary Entertainment, which is expected to start shooting this fall.
