It doesn’t get any more official than an announcement from Lionsgate motion picture group president Joe Drake; there will be a Dead Island movie, and it sounds like it will be the first major motion picture based on a video game trailer.
We’ve been hearing rumblings about a Dead Island movie since that damned trailer debuted in in February of this year, but today’s Lionsgate announcement makes the project official. They’ve got a producer in Sean Daniel (producer on The Mummy, Tombstone, and Dazed and Confused), studio folks assigned to oversee, and a vision that stems not from the game itself, but from the trailer that launched a little girl zombie out a window and into our hearts. From the official press release:
Like the trailer that will serve as its primary creative inspiration, the film Dead Island will be an innovation of the zombie genre because of its focus on human emotion, family ties and non-linear storytelling. Said Drake of the property’s acquisition, “Like the hundreds of journalists and millions of fans who were so passionate and vocal about the Dead Island trailer, we too were awestruck.” He continued, “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.”
I sincerely hope they decide to call the picture Dead Island Trailer: The Movie.
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