Ducking out of a theatrical run in the vein of its predecessor, Sony’s Crackle and Legendary are partnering to release zombie-infested sequel Dead Rising: Endgame across streaming and video-on-demand services later in 2016, and it’s understood production is now officially underway on the film’s Vancouver set.
Continuing on the undead adventure, Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die) reprises his Watchtower role as Chase Carter, now tasked with unravelling new mysteries that spawn a government conspiracy. In attempting to manufacture a cure, the plot description hints that the afflicted residents of East Mission City were instead used as the test subjects for Billy Zane’s “handsome, cruel” scientist, Rand.
Behind the lens, director Zach Lipovsky won’t return for Endgame and is replaced by Pat Williams (Cotinuum). That said, Crackle’s follow-up kept hold of its writing duo from the original, ensuring that both Tim Carter and Michael Ferris are on board to script the sequel.
According to Variety, Dead Rising: Endgame “is set in the zombie-infested quarantined zone of East Mission City. Investigative reporter Chase Carter (played by Jesse Metcalfe) must stop a secret government conspiracy which, though seemingly aimed at ending the country’s zombie epidemic, will also kill millions of innocent civilians.”
It’s unclear exactly how well Dead Rising: Watchtower performed upon hitting VOD services last year, which is not uncommon considering that Netflix, Hulu and the like often kept viewership data under wraps. Nevertheless, Crackle and Legendary are clearly confident that they can tap into the cult audience once more with the release of Dead Rising: Endgame this summer.
