If you’ve ever thought that Outlast would make a good horror movie, you’ll be ecstatic to know that developer Red Barrels has signed a deal with Lionsgate to bring the game series to the substantial screen.
Roy Leewhose previous films include “It,” “Barbarian,” “Late Night With the Devil” and “Strange Darling,” are set to front the project, while John Thomas Pettywriter of all Outlast games, also working on the script. “Red Barrels has been pushing the boundaries of horror in games for over a decade, and expanding the Outlast Universe into film is an incredible opportunity to delve deeper into the characters and killers we love,” said Petty.
“As die-hard fans of horror across all media, we at Red Barrels are huge admirers of the work of Roy Lee and Lionsgate,” said Red Barrels co-founder and chief original officer David Chateauneuf. “Horror films old and new have had an undeniable influence on our franchise over the years, and to be able to work on Outlast with true horror legends is a dream come true, or rather a nightmare.”
🎥 There’s Something Lurking in the Dark… We’re excited to announce a chilling collaboration with @Lionsgate that will take you deeper into the shadows. Lionsgate and Red Barrels are teaming up to bring the terrifying world of #Outlast to the substantial screen! Get ready for… pic.twitter.com/yI4yqa4SA6October 30, 2024
The original Outlast is a pretty good horror game: it doesn’t quite live up to the terrifying excellence of the Amnesia games, perhaps, but it still delivers “plenty of effective scares,” as we said in our Review 2013. Outlast 2 offered similar gameplay while still engaging with its themes extremely uncomfortable and surprising territory” and then The Outlast Trials changed direction to one of best co-op horror games come in a very long time.
Overall, this is a good thing, but I wonder, you know, Why? Horror/gore fans may disagree with this (vehemently, no doubt), but to paint with a broad brush here, Outlast is basically Saw – as more than a few people have pointed out on various Reddit Threads.
And who owns the rights to Piła? Lion’s Gate. So I wonder, why not just make a novel movie about Pila? The only answer I can come up with is that they might make a novel Saw movie AND Outlast movie, and people who like that sort of thing will probably go see both. OK, yes, I think that would explain it.
