DEAD RISING Movie Details Revealed

Legendary Pictures is currently in the process of developing a digital feature film based on Capcom's zombie survival video game Dead Rising. The movie is being directed by Zach Lipovsky (Leprechaun: Origins) who recently did an interview with /Film. During that interview he revealed a good amount of details on what he's planning for the film.

Before we get into those details, here's the cast of the movie that was announced yesterday. Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die, Desperate Housewives, Dallas), Meghan Ory (Once Upon A Time, Intelligence), Virginia Madsen (Sideways, Candyman, The Number 23), Dennis Haysbert (24, The Unit), and Keagan Connor Tracy (Bates Motel, Once Upon A Time, Battlestar Galactica).

Dead Rising may seem like it will be just another zombie film, but the director explains how this one will set itself apart from the other zombie films and TV shows,

"I think the franchise actually brings a lot of new energy to the genre that we haven’t seen in a zombie movie. The idea that you can be bitten and remain human as long as you take your medicine everyday, is very interesting and dramatic. Similar to the social stigma of living with HIV.

"Another very cool element from the game is the zombies remember a little bit about their previous lives. There is something really haunting about seeing a zombie cop randomly firing his gun, or a zombie mom pushing a stroller.

"Finally what I love in Dead Rising is the city is locked down, but the rest of the world is fine. Families are watching the zombie apocalypse on TV while eating dinner like it’s the Super Bowl. We’re taking a lot of inspiration from real world events like Hurricane Katrina, the Ebola outbreak even the Ferguson Riots."

The director goes on to explain that this will be an adventure movie, with dark and scary moments. When describing the tone he said it was Indiana Jones with zombies. "Fun, scary, dramatic action." When asked about the setting of the film, he revealed the following:

"The film is set in a new outbreak with new heroes, in a new city. So it’s not a direct adaptation of one of the previous games, but it does fit into the cannon of the storyline. It takes place between the Fortune City outbreak in Dead Rising 2 and Los Perdidos outbreak from Dead Rising 3. So it’s a part of the greater franchise narrative. Of course some familiar faces show up as well."

I'm glad that they are changing things up a bit for the movie, and not doing a direct adaptation. It will make things more interesting. You know what else makes movies like this more interesting? Lots of freakin' zombies to destroy! 

"One zombie isn’t scary, a horde that you can’t get through without a chainsaw is very scary. We’re pulling every favor we can do have some monster zombie set pieces. The rest will be a matter of focusing on locations and situations where a smaller number in a confined space still has full effect. Some of the most exciting parts of the game are when you’re in a tiny room filled with zombies. Pretty much every person I know has already emailed me saying they want to be a zombie, so I think [we'll] be fine. We are also planning a long one take action shot with hundreds of zombies which I’m very excited about."

I know this is only going to be a digital feature, but I'm a big fan of the video game franchise, and I'm excited about watching the movie. If you want to read more from the interview, head on over to /Film. There he talks more about the process of making a digital feature, and what that means for fans. 

Dead Rising is scheduled to start shooting on September 30th in Vancouver, and it will premiere exclusively on Crackle in the US. It will be distributed internationally in both episodic and feature format by Content Media Corp. After the movie has its run on Crackle it will then be released on SVOD, DVD, VOD and TV. 

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