The film is produced by Anthony Katagas and Iya Labunka, Craven's wife.
Casting Henry Hopper, son of actor
Dennis Hopper, was originally cast in the lead role of Bug, but was replaced by Thieriot after Hopper contracted
mononucleosis. Accompanying Thieriot is
John Magaro as Alex Dunkelman, Adam's friend who is
abused regularly by his sadistic and boorish stepfather, Quint (Lou Sumrall). Paulina Olszynski plays Brittany Cunningham, who shares a mutual secret attraction to Adam.
Nick Lashaway plays Brandon O'Neal, a "dashing, athletic jock" and "the handsomest boy in his school" who is attracted to Brittany.
Emily Meade plays Leah ("Fang").
Zena Grey,
Denzel Whitaker,
Trevor St. John,
Raúl Esparza, and
Shareeka Epps also star.
Filming Production began in April 2008, under the
working title 25/8, originally aiming for an October 2009 release. Craven described the killer in March 2009 as "a figure who lives under the river", eats bark, and lives in the woods since his alleged death. Although many of the main scenes were filmed in multiple rural Massachusetts towns, with the majority of outdoor scenes by the river and covered bridge being shot in Kent, CT at Bull's Bridge, many of the high school scenes were shot in the then-vacant Tolland High School (now Tolland Middle School) in
Tolland, Connecticut. Other scenes were filmed in
New Milford, CT,
Gaylordsville, CT and
Westhill High School in
Stamford, CT.
Post-production The film was shot in 2D. Because of the rising popularity of 3D films, it was
post-converted to
3D. ==Release==