Alliance AtlantisIn my restless dreams, I see that town. Film-goers are set to head back to gaming’s creepiest location – a new Silent Hill film is on the way.
You can’t speak about horror and video games without talking about Silent Hill. The iconic franchise took the medium to wicked, traumatic, unforgettable depths in its several entries, as players wandered the cult-infested, titular town.
It made its big-screen debut back in 2006, grossing more than $100 million worldwide. However, a dire sequel curbed any will to continue building the world. But there’s still hope: the first film’s director is now working on a brand new movie.
Alliance AtlantisChristophe Gans, director of Silent Hill and 2014’s Beauty and the Beast, recently spoke to French outlet Allocine about his future projects.
Speaking about the gaming franchise, Gans said:
We’re also working on a new Silent Hill. The project will always be anchored in this atmosphere of a small American town, ravaged by Puritanism. I think it’s time to make a new one.
It’s been far too long since we’ve had the pleasure of any Silent Hill-related entertainment. The last game to be released was Silent Hill: Book of Memories, released on the PS Vita back in 2012.
Including 2007’s Silent Hill: The Arcade, there have been 15 games in the series – however, the best games are generally regarded to be the earlier entries. Above all, Silent Hill 2 is the superlative chapter – a terrifying, hauntingly subtle trip into one man’s personal hell.
KonamiThe franchise was set for a proper reboot with Silent Hills – a new game developed by Kojima Productions. After a playable teaser (aptly named PT) dropped on the Playstation Store, tens of millions of gamers were quickly hyped. However, the project was later cancelled.
However, there are rumours floating around that Konami are ‘soft-rebooting’ the franchise, with two new games in development.
Gans has his fingers in more than one gaming pie. He also told the outlet: ‘I have two horror film projects with Victor Hadida. I am working on the adaptation of the video game Project Zero. The film will take place in Japan. I especially don’t want to uproot the game from its Japanese haunted house setting.’
TecmoProject Zero (named Fatal Frame in the US) is another tremendous horror franchise, first petrifying gamers on the Playstation 2 back in 2001. If Gans’ affection for Silent Hill is anything to go by, a dip into Project Zero’s world could be similarly spooky.
There is currently no further details regarding the new Silent Hill film – you’ll just have to stick with the old games for now.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.