Resident Evil producer Jeremy Bolt has partnered with videogame studio Hinterland for a live-action film adaptation of the game The Long Dark, which has hints of properties such as “The Walking Dead” and “The Road”, says THR.
The post-apocalyptic video game centers on bush pilot Will Mackenzie and Dr. Astrid Greenwood, with the pair becoming stranded in the wilderness of Northern Canada following a geomagnetic disaster. As they search for each other, Astrid and Mackenzie come to terms with the ways the world around them has changed due to an aurorae in the sky.
“My goal with Hinterland — starting with The Long Dark — has always been to create original entertainment properties that could span multiple mediums, exploiting the storytelling potential of each form,” Raphael van Lierop, founder and creative director at Hinterland, said in a statement. “Partnering with Jeremy on this project is the first step in achieving that vision of true cross-platform storytelling in the world of The Long Dark.”
“I first reached out to Raphael, as a fan of The Long Dark,” said Bolt. “I was immediately taken by the game’s stunningly immersive landscapes, eerily solitary and realistic nature; it is an existential tale of moral, emotional and physical endurance with strong characters to build on; it is also a mystery. It is an honor to try to do justice to it on film.”
To give fans a taste of what the Long Dark film will look like, Hinterland has produced “Elegy”, a five-minute short film featuring Oscar winner Christopher Plummer and directed Jared Pelletier. Hinterland’s van Lierop wrote the short.
“I describe Elegy as a visual poem”, says van Lierop. “Jared’s passion for the source material is evident — he really connected with The Long Dark’s artistic sensibilities and the game’s unique sense of identity within its own fiction. I think Elegy stands as an example of the level of quality and the overall tone I’d like to deliver in The Long Dark film.”