Sydney Sweeney is set to star in and produce Hollow, a gothic supernatural thriller that reimagines Washington Irving’s 1820 short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow — the first major project announced under her newly formed production company, Honey Trap.
Filmmaker and screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer sold her debut novel Hollow to Putnam, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and will write and direct the film adaptation. Putnam made a preemptive acquisition that took the project off the market before it could go to auction, with sources saying the manuscript generated significant industry competition immediately upon submission.
The story centers on Katrina Van Tassel as the lead, reframing a character long treated as a romantic prize into the driving force of a dangerous mystery and seductive supernatural love triangle. The film aims to blend gothic atmosphere with erotic thriller elements — a marked departure from earlier screen treatments of the material, including the 1999 Tim Burton adaptation and the Fox television series that ran from 2013 to 2017.
LuckyChap, the production company co-founded by Margot Robbie, will produce alongside Beer’s Lab Brew banner and Sweeney’s Honey Trap. The project is expected to hit the film market imminently and is anticipated to spark a bidding war among studios.
The deal lands at a pivotal moment in Sweeney’s pivot from actor to industry player. Honey Trap launched days after Euphoria wrapped its final season, with longtime collaborator Kaylee McGregor serving as president of production and development and a first-look deal in place at Sony Pictures. Sweeney’s last film, Lionsgate’s psychological thriller The Housemaid, grossed $400 million, and she is already attached to produce its sequel, The Housemaid’s Secret, which begins shooting this fall.
Beer previously directed Pet Sematary: Bloodlines in 2023 and has credits as a screenwriter on Men in Black: International and the 2022 Firestarter remake. The novel is scheduled for publication in fall 2027, with the film’s development timeline running in parallel.
