The Goonies and Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin has joined the cast of Cabin Fever: Patient Zero, the upcoming installment in the franchise started by Eli Roth’s 2002 indie horror, Cabin Fever.

The movie is actually one of two new movies on the way, the other titled Cabin Fever: Outbreak. When we first told you about the two movies last November, they were said to be sequels. Now it’s unclear what they are. Some say a reboot or spin-offs, perhaps prequels…who knows. But they are Cabin Fever movies, that much is true.

In Patient Zero, a boat that’s holding a bachelor party in the Caribbean accidentally runs ashore on an island. Unfortunately for the boat’s passengers, the island is also the location of a medical research facility, and a deadly flesh-eating virus has been released.

The movie also stars Brando Eaton (Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel) and Ben Hollingsworth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules).

Patient Zero will be directed by comic book artist Kaare Andrews, and is written by Jake Wade Wall (When A Stranger Calls, The Hitcher). It begins filming in the Dominican Republic this August, with a release set for sometime in 2013.

[Source: Heat Vision]