Movies
‘Dead Island’ Game Adaptation Rises From the Grave
Remember when everyone creamed over the announcement trailer for the video game “Dead Island,” and then the game sucked? Yeah, me too.
But they’re still moving forward with a feature film, says Deadline, as it’s getting reanimated for the screen by Occupant Entertainment and publisher Deep Silver. The companies have pacted to package, produce, and finance a new film based on the bestselling vidgame played from the perspective of survivors fending off the undead on an island paradise.
Dead Island sold over 8 million units worldwide after its initial release, drawing huge viral buzz from a memorable teaser trailer depicting one family’s dream vacation gone horribly wrong, Memento-style. That video notched a whopping 1 million YouTube views in a day, won the Golden Lion in Cannes at the International Festival of Creativity, and caught Hollywood’s attention. (It even inspired its own live-action recreation.) Lionsgate bought the rights in 2011 but the project stalled when production head Alli Shearmur left the studio the following year in the Summit exec shake-up. When rights reverted back to the publisher, the company sealed a new deal with LA-based Occupant Entertainment, the indie production and financing shingle that launched with 2006 genre slasher All The Boys Love Mandy Lane – one of the original bidders on the property.
Occupant, meanwhile, is currently in production on horror thriller The Woods from director Corin Hardy, and is in post on the Sophie Barthes-helmed Madame Bovary starring Mia Wasikowska, Paul Giamatti, Rhys Ifans and Ezra Miller.
In addition to Leigh Whannell’s upcoming Universal Monsters movie Wolf Man, Julia Garner (The Royal Hotel) has also joined the cast of Weapons, THR has announced tonight.
Weapons is the new horror movie from New Line Cinema and director Zach Cregger (Barbarian), with Julia Garner joining the previously announced Josh Brolin (Dune 2).
The upcoming Weapons is from writer/director Zach Cregger, who will also produce alongside his Barbarian producing team: Roy Lee of Vertigo and J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules of BoulderLight Pictures. Vertigo’s Miri Yoon also produces.
The Hollywood Reporter teases, “Plot details for Weapons are being kept holstered but it is described as a multi and inter-related story horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia, the 1999 actor-crammed showcase from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.”
Cregger was a founding member and writer for the New York comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U’Know,” which he started while attending The School of Visual Arts. The award-winning group’s self-titled sketch comedy show ran for five seasons on IFC-TV and Fuse. He was also a series regular on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC series “Guys with Kids” and the TBS hit series “Wrecked,” and was featured in a recurring role on the NBC series “About a Boy.”
Weapons will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Five Underseen Vampire Horror Movies to Stream This Week
Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home!
Looking for New Episodes of “Chucky” on Peacock? Here’s What Changed
‘Stream’ – Horror Movie from the Team Behind ‘Terrifier’ Sets August Theatrical Release
‘The Blair Witch Project’ – Original Stars Release a Statement Asking Lionsgate for Residuals & Recognition
