After appearing in James Gunn‘s “Superman” reboot last summer, actress Isabela Merced is being recruited to lead a new fature take on the popular Sega (the folks behind the “Sonic The Hedgehog” franchise) arcade zombie shooter “House of the Dead,” which has “Resident Evil” and “AVP” director Paul W.S. Anderson returning to the world of video games, helming the project.
The report hailing from Deadline revealed the gestating horror movie is heading to the European Film Market (currently underway alongside the Berlin International Film Festival) with Rocket Science launching international sales, and CAA Media Finance overseeing the domestic side, on what they hope is a new franchise starter with Merced expected to be its face.
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Anderson produces “House of the Dead” alongside longtime creative partner Jeremy Bolt, Sega’s Toru Nakahara (“Sonic The Hedgehog”), Story Kitchen‘s Dmitri M. Johnson (“Tomb Raider” series), Michael Lawrence Goldberg, and Timothy I. Stevenson. Also, Merced is set to executive produce.
“‘The House of the Dead’ is a game I have loved for many years, and I’m beyond thrilled to be bringing this to the big screen with such an exciting talent as Isabela at its heart. We envisage this as the start of a tentpole franchise which can explore the rich world and lore that Sega has created over a whole series of films,” Anderson said in an official statement.
Debuting back in 1997 during the height of the popularity of arcades as they started competing with the next-generation of console gaming (sort of behind their demise alongside PC gaming), the zombie game was eventually adapted into a low-budget campy movie a year after Anderson’s “Resident Evil” by filmmaker Uwe Boll, which ended up earning somewhat of a cult following.
Merced’s other credits include “The Last of Us” (set to return for the third season of the HBO Max series) “Alien: Romulus,” “Transformers: The Last Knight,” “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” and the young actress may end up reprising Hawkgirl in Gunn’s big DC event pic “Man of Tomorrow.”
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