Nicholas Galitzine is in final negotiations to play Ichabod Crane in Hollow, Sony Pictures’ gothic reimagining of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, opposite Sydney Sweeney as Katrina Van Tassel. Deadline broke the news on November 5, and the casting has quickly become one of the most talked-about film stories of the weekend.
Galitzine, who led this summer’s Masters of the Universe as He-Man, would take on the role Johnny Depp played in Tim Burton’s 1999 Sleepy Hollow — and Bing Crosby voiced in Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. The deal is not yet closed: “final talks” is the trade-press term for a negotiation nearing completion, and Sony declined to comment on the reported casting.
A love triangle retold from Katrina’s side
Hollow is based on filmmaker Lindsey Anderson Beer’s forthcoming debut novel, a bold reimagining of Washington Irving’s 1820 ghost story told through the perspective of Katrina Van Tassel, played by Sweeney. The novel is described as a sexy, supernatural love triangle: Katrina, Ichabod Crane, and Brom Bones — played by Belmont Cameli, whose casting TheWrap reported on September 24 — with the Headless Horseman closing in.
Beer will direct the film and adapt her own novel, which Putnam, a Penguin Random House imprint, will publish in fall 2027. That means the film is adapting a book nobody has read yet — an unusual order of events, and a sign of how much Sony believes in the package. Sony picked up the project from Beer, Sweeney and Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap in June 2026, following a competitive situation, according to trade coverage.
Sweeney’s first production
The film will be the first produced under Sweeney’s newly formed Honey Trap banner, which has a first-look deal with Sony Pictures. Sweeney will star and produce, with Beer producing through her Lab Brew banner and LuckyChap also producing. It is a significant step for Sweeney as a producer, and a project that puts her at the centre of a major studio horror film.
Galitzine has had a busy 2026, starring in both Sheep Detectives and Masters of the Universe, and the role of Crane was chased by a long list of actors, according to trade coverage. Cameli was cast in September, and Galitzine’s deal is now closing in November, with production reported to start early next year.
What happens next
There is no footage from Hollow yet, and with production not starting until next year there will not be for a while. No release date has been announced. What is confirmed is the shape of the film: a Sleepy Hollow retold from Katrina’s point of view, directed by the novel’s own author, starring Sweeney as producer and lead — and, if the final talks close, Galitzine as the schoolmaster who collides with the Headless Horseman.
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