Horror films hit differently when the horrors are set during the holidays and Eli Roth is offering up one such show. The filmmaker’s next horror thriller titled Thanksgiving being made by Spyglass has welcomed its first guest. Grey’s Anatomy star Patrick Dempsey is revealed to be in talks to star in the slasher horror produced by Roth. Filming begins in March from a script written by Jeff Rendel.

Roth penned the script over a dozen years ago, and it’s finally set to be made. Little is known about the plot details for Thanksgiving, however, it concerns a slasher who comes to a small Massachusetts town with the intention of “creating a Thanksgiving carving board out of the town’s inhabitants,” per sources via The Hollywood Reporter. Roger Birnbaum and Roth are producing. The new horror thriller is based on a faux trailer in the Quentin Tarantino-Robert Rodriguez double bill, Grindhouse, made by Roth 16 years ago.

While Spyglass is yet to comment on the casting, Dempsey is believed to be playing the town’s sheriff per sources familiar with the project. Dempsey has earned his strips on screen as a clean-cut character, with the actor featuring in Disney’s Enchanted and the 2022 sequel, Disenchanted starring opposite Amy Adams. The actor has also starred in one of television’s longest-running shows Grey’s Anatomy where he portrayed Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd. Taking part in a gory horror film will not be new to Dempsey given his prior experience with the 2000 release of Scream 3.

Roth’s work in the horror film genre is one which is well-known to audiences familiar with these types of motion pictures. His works defer somewhat from the more recent releases in the genre like Nope and the films from the Jordan Peele collection, however, a return to a former way of making horror with a modern spin could very well prove to be a stroke of genius.

Roth’s involvement in the making of Thanksgiving, however, means that he is required to hand over the reins for another project he had been handling. The filmmaker had been scheduled to oversee the reshoots for Lionsgate‘s highly anticipated sci-fi film Borderlands. Those plans have since been shelved with the reshoots set to be handled by director Tim Miller. Miller is most famous for directing the 2016 hit Marvel film, Deadpool starring Ryan Reynolds. In Roth’s absence, Miller will work with Cate Blanchett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Edgar Ramirez and others to deliver on the project.

Lionsgate has not yet announced a release date for Borderlands.

via Collider