Jason Blum’s Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster are teaming up with Canadian gaming studio Behaviour Interactive to develop its hit horror game “Dead by Daylight” into a feature film.
“In Dead by Daylight, the Behaviour team has created a love letter to the world of horror, building an incredible environment teeming with atmosphere and terrifying villains — perfect for a scary cinematic adaptation,” Wan added. “We’re big fans of the game at Atomic Monster, and are thrilled to be teaming up with Blumhouse to bring this frighteningly visceral world to the big screen.”
A search for the project’s director and screenwriter is currently underway. Blumhouse and Atomic Monster are currently in final negotiations to merge.
The “Dead by Daylight” video game launched in 2016 and finds players choosing to be either the Killer or a Survivor. The Killer must impale all survivors on a hook to appease a malevolent force known as “the Entity,” while the survivors must, well, survive.
“We know there are so many fans of ‘Dead by Daylight’ out there and think it’s imperative we find someone who appreciates and loves the world as much as we do, to help us bring the game to the big screen,” Blum said in a statement. “We know our partners at Behaviour and Atomic Monster will help us bring the best version of this game to life.”
Blum, Wan and Behaviour Interactive’s Stephen Mulrooney will serve as producers on the film, while Behaviour Interactive’s Rémi Racine, Atomic Monster’s Michael Clear and Judson Scott, Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek, and Striker Entertainment’s Russell Binder are serving executive producers.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Jason Blum and James Wan, two giants of the horror film industry, to further expand the Dead by Daylight universe,” Mulrooney said in a statement.“At Behaviour, our motto is to create unique moments, together, forever. Atomic Monster and Blumhouse are the ideal partners to craft Dead by Daylight’s killer entrance onto the big screen.”
Since its launch in 2016, “Dead by Daylight” has reached over 50 million players worldwide, with two million players stepping into The Fog every day. In addition to “Dead by Daylight,” Behaviour Interactive is currently expanding its portfolio of original IP with multiple projects, including the highly anticipated base building and raiding title “Meet Your Maker.”
Thursday’s announcement comes after Blumhouse launched a new subsidiary last month focused on producing and publishing indie budget video games below $10 million.
Blumhouse has produced over 150 movies and television series. Its film credits include the franchises “Halloween,” “Paranormal Activity,” and “The Purge” as well as prolific films like “M3GAN,” Scott Derrickson’s “The Black Phone,” “Glass,” “The Visit” and “Split” from M. Night Shyamalan, Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” and “Get Out” from Jordan Peele. Upcoming films slated for theatrical release this year include David Gordon Green’s “The Exorcist” and Chris Weitz’s film “They Listen.”
Additionally, Blumhouse’s upcoming series include Amazon’s “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” starring Justina Machado, and “The Sticky,” produced by Jamie Lee Curtis, NBC’s “The Thing About Pam,” starring two-time Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger, and the lauded Showtime series “The Good Lord Bird,” starring Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke. The company also produces streaming anthology series like “Welcome to the Blumhouse” for Amazon and a slate of horror/thriller films for MGM+.
Atomic Monster’s film credits include “Annabelle,” “Lights Out,” “Annabelle: Creation,” “The Nun,” “The Curse of La Llorona,” “Annabelle Comes Home,” “Mortal Kombat,” “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” “Malignant,” and “There’s Someone Inside Your House.” Most recently, the company released the global hit “M3GAN,” starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, and Ronny Chieng, for which a sequel has already been announced.
The company also executive produced several series across genres including “MacGyver,” “Swamp Thing,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “Archive 81,” “Aquaman: King of Atlantis,” and “Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles.”
Upcoming Atomic Monster projects include “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” the sequel to DC’s box-office smash “Aquaman,” Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot,” starring Lewis Pullman, Alfre Woodard, and Bill Camp and New Line’s “The Nun 2,” starring Taissa Farmiga and Storm Reid. In TV, Atomic Monster will executive produce an untitled Ian McCulloch project for Peacock, which the streamer recently picked up for a full series order.
