14 DAY TRIAL // Lionsgate, one of the leading companies when it comes to filmed entertainment, has announced that it has optioned the rights for a movie based on the Dead Island video game, which has been created by Techland and published by Deep Silver.
Joe Drake, who is the co-Chief Operations Officer and the president of the Motion Picture Group at Lionsgate, made the announcement and said that much of the decision was based on the trailer that was launched during February of this year, showing how the zombie apocalypse on a tropical island affects a family.
The trailer was seen by more than 10 million people after its debut and has managed to impress with its mix of emotion and desperation.
The game was launched during September and the publisher says that it has managed to sell more than 2 million units until now.
The actual experience of playing Dead Island does not come close to the experience suggested in the trailer but the game does offer a number of good close quarter combat moments and even some solid scares.
Lionsgate says that, like the Dead Island trailer, the movie will be focused on human emotion, something that has not happened before in the zombie genre.
Joe Drake stated, “Like the hundreds of journalists and millions of fans who were so passionate and vocal about the Dead Island trailer, we too were awestruck. This is exactly the type of property we’re looking to adapt at Lionsgate – it’s sophisticated, edgy, and a true elevation of a genre that we know and love. It also has built in brand recognition around the world, and franchise potential.”
Sean Daniel, who was a producer on The Mummy, will work on the Dead Island movie, and will be joined by Stefan Sonnenfeld, who has worked with the likes of J.J Abrams, Michael Bay and Gore Verbinski.
No director or screenwriter has been attached to the project.