Lights Out Director David F. Sandberg To Return To Horror With Until Dawn Movie Adaptation
After making one of the most refreshing DC superhero movies in years, and also one of the worst, David F. Sandberg is finally returning to his horror roots. Unsurprisingly for IP-obsessed Hollywood, Sandberg's return is not with an original horror story, but with an adaptation of a popular title — a video game, to be exact.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sandberg has signed up to direct an adaptation of "Until Dawn," the PlayStation horror game, for Screen Gems and PlayStation Productions. The script was originally written by Blair Butler (who previously wrote the underwhelming vampire flick "The Invitation"), but "Annabelle: Creation" writer Gary Dauberman is reportedly giving the script another pass.
Though specifics on this adaptation are scarce, Screen Gems is reportedly describing the film version as an "R-rated love letter to the horror genre, centering on an ensemble cast."
"Until Dawn" was first released in 2015 for the PlayStation 4 as an interactive horror game. In it, players control eight young adults on a remote mountain retreat featuring all sorts of life-threatening dangers. The game was praised for its butterfly effect system, in which choices made by the player would impact the rest of the story, including which characters live or die. As a love letter to slasher horror movies, the game featured serial killers, wendigos, and more.
Perhaps the most famous feature of "Until Dawn" was its all-star cast and use of motion capture to deliver a cinematic experience. The cast included Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, Jordan Fisher, and Peter Stormare. Almost a decade later, it remains one of the best horror movie experiences in gaming.
Video game adaptations are coming
PlayStation Productions seems to be all-in on the live-action adaptations business. Not only did they see the release of the popular and acclaimed "The Last of Us" TV show last year, but there were also adaptations of "Gran Turismo" and "Twisted Metal" released to positive responses.
With the superhero boom seemingly coming to a slow end, Hollywood is hard at work looking for the next adaptation gold rush. "One Piece" saw a live-action manga adaptation find huge success where previously it seemed like a lost cause, but those are still few and far between (there are live-action adaptations of everything from "Attack on Titan" to "My Hero Academia" supposedly in the works, but with no actual progress in years).
The answer, then, seems to be video games. While it wasn't long ago when those, too, seemed cursed, we've seen plenty of video game adaptations released to great acclaim and financial success. Just look at the box-office track record of the "Sonic the Hedgehog" movies, or the critical and awards success of "Arcane." When it comes to "Until Dawn," the biggest challenge will be to adapt what is a giant homage that relies on player interactivity into a compelling narrative with zero audience interaction. Who knows, perhaps Screen Gems will try Smell-O-Vision or something to try and retain that audience factor.