The movie rights to Dead Island, Techland and Deep Silver's tropical zombie nightmare game, have been haggled over for either months, or years, depending on who you ask. Studio interest peaked when the publisher put out that now infamous teaser trailer of a CG family becoming zombie brunch in backward slow-motion, but rights disputes going back long before that trailer's conception have muddied the waters, seemingly preventing us, the game-loving masochists who actually watch movies based on video games, from seeing a 90 minute version of that trailer starring real actors.
However, according to Deadline, the dust has finally settled on that rights dispute, and Lionsgate has come out on top. Lionsgate has more than its share of popular horror franchises under its banner, including Saw, Hostel, and The Last Exorcism. It also produced the Oscar Best Picture winner Crash, for whatever that's worth.
While the story simply states that the rights were acquired for Dead Island, the quote from Lionsgate rep Joe Drake lends a good bit of credence to the theory that the only reason they care about this thing is because of that trailer, which became such a massive viral sensation overnight.
“Like the hundreds of journalists and millions of fans who were so passionate and vocal about the Dead Island trailer, we too were awestruck,” said Lionsgate’s Joe Drake. “This is exactly the type of property we’re looking to adapt at Lionsgate: it’s sophisticated, edgy, and a true elevation of a genre that we know and love. It also has built in brand recognition around the world, and franchise potential.”
There you have it. Get ready for Night of the Living Dead meets Memento meets National Lampoon's Vacation. Actually, come to think of it, that doesn't sound half bad...