Paul WS Anderson will write and direct THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD; Concept art released

Paul W. S. Anderson (Resident Evil) will write and direct a film adaptation of the classic Sega video game, The house of the dead. There’s also some concept art to check out.

I had a lot of fun playing this horror game when I was little. The first-person shooter arcade game developed by Sega in 1996.

Set in a mansion overrun by grotesque, undead creatures, the game follows two agents, Thomas Rogan and “G”, on a mission to rescue Rogan’s girlfriend, Sophie, from the clutches of mad scientist Dr. Curien.

Curien’s reanimation experiments have gone terribly wrong, causing the mansion to be crawling with zombies, monsters, and terrifying bosses.

Players progress through levels, fighting waves of lightly armed enemies as they explore the dark and foreboding mansion and uncover its many secrets.

Anderson spoke about the game, saying, “I’ve loved gaming since the ’90s. I was a big arcade game player at the time, which is how I came across Mortal Kombat. And around the same time, I was also playing a lot of House of the Dead.

“It’s a title I’ve always loved. IP has grown in strength and is now truly intergenerational. I was one of the original players, but now I have teenage kids who play too. That’s the real attraction for me, that you have a piece of intergenerational IP.

“We’re going to base the movie on House of the Dead three, and if you know the mythology, it’s all about family conflict, amidst the action and scares. It’s about a woman, Lisa Rogan, who tries to save her father.

“And it’s also about Daniel Curien, who is the son of the man who caused the mutant epidemic and who has to face his father’s sins.

Speaking about his approach to making the film, the director said: “My approach will be to think about what this kinetic, hyper-immersive video game is, which is why Zack Snyder took these creatures and made them fast-moving. This is a total terror rush.

“It’s different from what we did with Resident Evil, where there were a lot of traps and puzzles and things to solve. House of the Dead is essentially a light rail shooter, so it drops you right into the middle of the action.

“I will make a film that reflects this approach and unfolds in real time, drawing the audience directly into the action. It won’t somehow be burdened with a whole bunch of backstory that might exclude people who know nothing about House of the Dead.

“Everyone will be on the same page. Everyone will be sucked right into the action and learn about the characters and plot, as they have 90 minutes to escape the most extreme haunted house you’ve ever been in.

Producer Jeremy Bolt added: “The original director of the video game, Takashi Odahe was very specific and never referred to them as zombies. He called them creatures. Resident Evil, for example, was clearly based on the Romero Zombie films.

“House of the Dead is something different. These are more like weaponized mutations, these amazing steroid-filled figures that have chainsaws embedded in their limbs. It all has a very Japanese design aesthetic, tied to manga and films like Tetsuo: The Iron Man, where you have pieces of metal and technology embedded in mutated human flesh.

“And these creatures are extremely intelligent, which is another thing that sets House of the Dead apart. They won’t come at you slowly and awkwardly. They come from the sides, they come from behind. They are trying to deceive you. They are trying to trap you. And the level of intelligence is different.

“And ultimately they are all led by Dr. Curien, whose life force and intelligence lives on, almost like artificial intelligence. The flesh is dead, but the mind lives on in a character called The Wheel of Destiny. And like all the big bads in House of the Dead and Creatures, they’re all named after Tarot cards. So the Wheel of Destiny, of Death, the Magician.

Sega’s Toru Nakahara said: “Sega was a little skeptical about getting involved in big Hollywood productions, the idea that ‘they’re sharks, they’re stealing from us.’

“But I convinced them, and working with Paramount on Sonic changed the dynamic towards our transmedia policies and since then we have actively developed many productions, seeing it as an initiative to expand the entire Sega brand.

“I met Paul and Jeremy, they’re legends in terms of zombie films, and Dmitri from Story Kitchen. They have a rare understanding of video games and how to bring them to the screen. We want to add a great zombie movie to Sega’s transmedia basket.”

The creative team will pitch the project to studios with plans to go into production by mid-to-late 2025. Check out the concept art below.

Source: deadline