The first CGI trailer for Dead Island left quite an impact on the gaming community; the way the trailer showed the death (and undeath) of a little girl in reverse was enough to spark interest in the game. Unfortunately, when the game released it was full of bugs and graphical glitches, hampering the user experience. But Dead Island may get a second chance at being the ultimate cinematic experience, and what better place than…cinema!
Lionsgate Co-Chief Operating Officer, Joe Drake, announced today that the company has optioned the film rights from the publisher of Dead Island, Deep Silver. An option allows Lionsgate to put down a small percentage of the rights to Dead Island. If Lionsgate fails to get the financing for the film then they take a minimal loss, but if Lionsgate decides to make the movie then the option guarantees that they will be able to buy the full rights to the game. The official release from Lionsgate said the following:
Dead Island is a global brand first introduced through a teaser trailer that told the story of a family on vacation at a tropical resort who is besieged by zombies. Told in a stark, non-linear fashion, the wrenching trailer captured worldwide fan attention and unanimous critical praise upon its debut, receiving over 1 million hits in its first 24 hours online, and nearly 10 million views by two days after its debut. The trailer went on to win the Golden Lion in Cannes at the International Festival of Creativity, the advertising industry’s highest honor, and it was featured by Adweek on their annual list of the World’s Best Commercials.
Drake went on to comment:
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.
The Dead Island movie will have its production headed up by Sean Daniel, who has worked on movies like Tombstone and The Mummy.
Would you like to see a Dead Island movie. Let us know in the comments below.
