Zombie Research Society
The Dead Island video game franchise is taking another swipe at Hollywood fame. According to a recent article by Deadline, series producer Deep Silver and indie film studio Occupant Entertainment have teamed up to resurrect plans for a big-screen adaptation of the popular zombie franchise.
A Dead Island movie was originally set to arrive from Lionsgate back in 2011, but failed to launch when a corporate restructuring left the project in the lurch. Now that the rights have reverted back to Deep Silver, both the game publisher and its new studio partners are confident that fans will finally see the series get its big screen close-up!
“Deep Silver has created a highly successful game franchise based on very cinematic, widely viewed and well received trailers, which provide a great template for launching a film franchise with a distinctive and commercial take on the zombie apocalypse,” said Joe Neurauter and Felipe Marino, partners with Occupant. “We want to find the right filmmaker and present somewhat of an open canvas, to make something distinct and original that also appeals to and expands the core audience.”
Developed by Techland, both Dead Island (2011) and Dead Island: Riptide (2013) have sold upwards of 6 million copies across the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC platforms. The video games see players cutting a swath through undead hordes while exploring open-world tropical environments and solving the monstrous conspiracies therein. An official sequel, Dead Island 2, is slated for release in 2015.
Occupant Entertainment is an indie production studio based in Los Angeles whose portfolio includes a number of popular films including All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), The Wackness (2008), and upcoming thriller The Woods. And while there is no word on what the Dead Island movie will eventually look like; fans can expect sunny vistas, warm temperatures… and plenty of flesh-eating, blood-letting, teeth-gnashing terror!
Check out the unnerving Dead Island trailer that sparked all of the movie buzz below.
Contributing author Matt Bradford (@MattoMcFly) is a co-host of Zombie Cast; a weekly podcast discussing all things zombie, horror and pop culture
Still one of the best video game previews I’ve ever seen!
Don’t settle for a low budget film studio Deep Silver. This is worthy of becoming the new Resident Evil franchise. I still play this game late at night and get creeped the hell out.