Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil series, Mortal Kombat, Monster Hunter) is set to write and direct a feature film adaptation of SEGA's action-horror game series The House of the Dead, Deadline report today.
If you've not played the legendary arcade game, which has been a staple of game centers since 1997, Deadline remind that the shooter plays as follows:
In the arcade game, players take on the role of AMS agents, a government agency tasked with thwarting the conspiracies of organizations that threaten the world. The title comes from the bureau they work for, because their life expectancies are brief.
Speaking to Deadline, Anderson (who we already know is a keen gamer from his filmography) expanded on his love for House of the Dead, revealing that his movie will be based on The House of the Dead III from 2002:
“I’ve loved the video game since the nineties […] Back then I was a big player of video games in arcades, which is how I happened upon Mortal Kombat.. And pretty much at the same time, I was also playing a lot of House of the Dead. It’s a title I’ve always loved. The IP has grown in strength, and now it’s really cross-generational. 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.
We’re going to base the movie on House of the Dead three, and if you know the mythology that is all about family conflict, amidst the action and scares. It’s about a woman, Lisa Rogan, who’s attempting to rescue her father. And it’s also about Daniel Curien, who’s the son of the man who caused this mutant outbreak in the first place and who has to deal with the sins of the father.
The zombies of House of the Dead were a far cry from the slow shufflers popularized by classic Romero films, and went on to influence everything from 28 Days Later to World War Z. Anderson expanded on that, saying:
“My approach will be to reflect what this hyper-immersive, kinetic video game is, which is why Zack Snyder took these creatures and made them fast moving […] This is a full-on terror ride. It’s different than what we did with Resident Evil, where there were lots of traps and puzzles and things to be figured out. House of the Dead is at heart a light rail shooter game, so it drags you straight into the middle of the action.
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 back story that might exclude people who know nothing about House of the Dead. Everyone’s going to be on the same page. Everyone’s going to get sucked straight into the action and learn about the characters and the plot, as they have 90 minutes to basically escape the most extreme haunted house you’ve ever been in.”
In the House of the Dead movie concept art seen below, you can see that these zombies are not messing around:
Sega/Herne Hill Media
A House of the Dead adaptation was previously helmed in 2003 by cult filmmaker Uwe Boll to er, less than positive reviews.
Per Deadline, Anderson will produce alongside his partner Jeremy Bolt, Sega’s Toru Nakahara will produce along with Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg and Dan Jevons. Timothy I. Stevenson will be executive producer.
House of the Dead is set to enter production in mid-2025. We'll bring you more updates as we get them.
