A new House of the Dead film helmed by Paul W.S. Anderson was announced by SEGA

SEGA just isn’t gonna stop signing deals to turn their IPs into movies aren’t they? With Sonic the Hedgehog 3 set to come out on December 20th, a film adaptation of Shinobi revealed, the company announced on Halloween that their arcade shooter The House of the Dead will be rising from the dead in a brand new film produced/written/directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.

This isn’t the first House of the Dead film, as the early 2000s saw two films directed by Uwe Boll and Michael Hurst. These films weren’t exactly critically acclaimed so perhaps this 4th attempt (There was supposed to be a 3rd film, but eventually released without the HoTD license as Dead and Deader) might fare a bit better. Paul W. S. Anderson’s no stranger to video game adaptations having directed Mortal Kombat (1995), a string of Resident Evil films and Monster Hunter.

While public opinion on video games films slowly turns around, will this new House of the Dead continue the positive trajectory or will it remind us of the bad old days? It’s still too early to tell, I think I’ll start forming an opinion once casting has been announced. Until then I’m just waiting to see what role Mila Jovovich will have in this upcoming film.

RESIDENT EVIL film franchise architect, Paul W.S. Anderson, has signed on to write, direct, and produce, alongside his producing partner, Jeremy Bolt. SEGA’s Toru Nakahara will produce along with Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg and Dan Jevons. Timothy I. Stevenson will executive produce.

THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD series first debuted in 1996 as an ‘on-rails shooter’ offering fast paced action and horror with a groundbreaking zombie world. In the games, players take on the role of AMS agents, a government agency tasked with thwarting the conspiracies of organizations that threaten the world. HOTD is a beloved series, enjoyed by millions of gamers.

Paul W.S. Anderson is no stranger to action horror, or to videogame-to-film adaptations, as Anderson previously helmed AVP: ALIEN VS PREDATOR, and the cult hit, EVENT HORIZON, as well as Warner Bros’ MORTAL KOMBAT and Capcom’s MONSTER HUNTER, in addition to the wickedly successful RESIDENT EVIL franchise. The latter of which encompassed six theatrically released pictures, grossed over $1.3 billion dollars, and became the longest running videogame-based film franchise in history.

Anderson’s vision is to adapt THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD into an immersive, live action thrill ride that plunges the audience straight into the heart of the action. Scary, action-packed, and playing out in real-time. The audience, alongside the characters, will have just 90 minutes to escape the ultimate haunted house. Don’t blink!!1