Lionsgate Picks Up Rights to ‘Dead Island’ Video Game About Worst Family Vacation Ever (With Zombies)
Back in February, a teaser trailer for the then-upcoming video game Dead Island hit the web and became a viral smash – racking up one million views in just a day, with that number reportedly jumping tenfold by the next day. Deep Silver’s game focuses on a family vacation that gets screwed up pretty royally, not by Aunt Mildred’s drinking problem or lost luggage, but by a zombie invasion. And you thought your holidays were bad, huh, amirite? The teaser trailer (which our own Neil Miller Movie-News-After-Dark’ed about during its first bout of buzz) garnered so much attention that a big screen adaptation seemed imminent, but it’s taken until now (thanks to a rights ownership kerfuffle) for a studio to seal the deal. That studio taking a bite out of the next great zombie flick? Lionsgate.
The studio’s motion picture group president Joe Drake announced today that “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 game was finally released in the U.S. just this month, and has already sold two million units. So brand recognition? Kinda. Franchise potential? Those are the magic words!
If you were on an island or something back in February and somehow missed out on the pretty juicy viral teaser trailer, check it out after the break.
