Blumhouse and James Wan bringing ‘Dead by Daylight’ to the big screen

It’s official: Dead By Daylight is getting a feature-film adaptation. The 2016 title from Behaviour Interactive is a multiplayer survival horror game in which four characters — known as Survivors — attempt to fix five generators scattered around various maps while eluding the clutches of the Killer. All characters are chosen from a lineup of different individuals — each with unique skillsets. During gameplay, the Killer attempts to injure Survivors and impale them on sacrificial hooks to appease the Entity, a malevolent force that traps both Killers and Survivors within the map during the “trial.” Meanwhile, Survivors must work together — healing, fixing, unhooking one another — to successfully repair all five generators and power the exit gates, then leave unscathed.

Several characters featured in Dead By Daylight are derived from cult-classic horror films such as Halloween (Laurie Strode and Michael Myers), Saw (Detective Tapp and Amanda Young aka The Pig), Scream (Ghostface), and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Leatherface), whereas the majority of Survivors and Killers are original characters (OCs) created by Behaviour specifically for the game.

Per Variety, Stephen Mulrooney, executive vice president at Behaviour Interactive, had this to say about the announcement:

“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. 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.”

In the same vein, Atomic Monster Founder and CEO James Wan (Saw) praised Behaviour Interactive for “creating a love letter to the world of horror” with Dead By Daylight:

“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. 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.”

Right now, the companies are on the hunt for a director and screenwriter to take on the project, as well as searching for the ideal candidates to embody those whom we would assume to be the main characters; Meg Thomas, William “Bill” Overbeck, Claudette Morel, and Dwight Fairfield on the Survivor side, and Trapper, Huntress, Blight, and Wraith on the Killer side. It’s highly unlikely that the Dead By Daylight feature would contain licensed killers such as Ghostface and Michael Myers, given that the rights to those characters come with some restrictions — and Blumhouse wouldn’t want to repeat the Halloween (2018) trilogy unnecessarily.

Jason Blum, the founder and CEO of Blumhouse, weighed in on the announcement:

“We know there are so many fans of ‘Dead by Daylight’ out there and I 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. We know our partners at Behaviour and Atomic Monster will help us bring the best version of this game to life.” 

Just last month, Blumhouse announced that it would be launching its own gaming universe under Blumhouse Games, so there will be countless more surprises down the line.