Paul W.S. Anderson is no stranger to adapting video games for the big screen, having already performed the trick with Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil and Monster Hunter, but he's taking a new approach with his upcoming effort, a silver screen adaptation of Sega's light gun shooter House of the Dead.
Speaking to Variety, Anderson says the script is "almost done" and that shooting is expected to kick off later this year. "I’m really going to push the envelope on this one," he says. "It’s going to be something different for me."
When asked if it would be a "full-tilt horror", he replies:
Yes, exactly that. It’s going to be immersive and very, very scary. It’ll all play out in real time, so it reflects the experience of playing the video game. The only time it stops is when you beat the game or you die. That’s going to be the only way out.
This is the third time that Sega's zombie-blasting franchise has made the leap to Hollywood. Uwe Boll directed the first effort in 2003, which grossed $13.8 million on a $12 million budget and garnered particularly negative reviews. A sequel followed in 2005.