Paul W.S. Anderson, known for directing or producing a series of Resident Evil movies that collectively grossed over $1 billion and later for the critically panned Monster Hunter film, is now venturing into another video game adaptation. Anderson is set to create a movie based on Sega's The House of the Dead series. The House of the Dead, first released in 1997, is a familiar setting for Anderson, as the game revolves around an agent battling a horde of zombies. The film will specifically draw from 2002's The House of the Dead 3.
Anderson shared with Deadline that he has been a fan of the series since its arcade days. 'I was one of the original players, but now I have teenage kids who also play. That is the real attraction for me, that you've got a cross-generational piece of IP,' he said. The story will center around Lisa Rogan, who embarks on a mission to rescue her father, and will also delve into the life of Daniel Curien, the son of the man who initiated the zombie outbreak. 'He has to deal with the sins of the father,' Anderson noted.
Anderson plans to mirror the hyper-immersive, kinetic nature of the video game in his film. 'This is a full-on terror ride,' he stated. Unlike the Resident Evil series, which features traps and puzzles, Anderson's The House of the Dead movie will directly plunge viewers into the action, without extensive backstory. 'I'm going to make a movie that mirrors that approach and plays out in real time, dragging the audience straight into the action. It's not going to be kind of lumbered with a whole bunch of backstory that might exclude people who know nothing about House of the Dead. Everyone's going to be on the same page,' he explained.
In essence, Anderson aims to create a 90-minute film that promises to be the 'most extreme haunted house you've ever been in.' While it's still early for the House of the Dead movie, no cast or release date has been announced. Before the Resident Evil films and Monster Hunter, Anderson directed 1995's Mortal Kombat. Notably, this isn't the first House of the Dead film; infamous director Uwe Boll was behind the 2003 original. Anderson's House of the Dead movie is his second project in development, alongside the fantasy film In the Lost Lands, based on a George R.R. Martin story, slated for 2025.
Anderson's last release was 2020's Monster Hunter, which, despite being based on the Capcom game, was poorly received and grossed only $42 million worldwide. The announcement of the House of the Dead movie follows closely on the heels of news about an Outlast film being developed by Lionsgate, the company behind Saw.
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