Nearly a decade after the hit horror video game was released, a Until Dawn movie adaptation has been announced, but it will face two major issues. The Until Dawn movie adaptation is officially in development, and while there are a lot of promising aspects for the project, it won’t be a guaranteed success. Until Dawn‘s wonderful cast not only helped make a great game, but it could be perfectly suited for the film with the likes of Rami Malek and Hayden Panettiere big enough names to market the movie, and therefore, reassembling the original cast would make sense.
While this seems like a big strength for the adaptation, there are also a few obstacles that stand in its way. Until Dawn is one of the all-time best horror games and has a huge reputation, but there are a few pitfalls the movie can easily fall into. Cashing in on the game’s success is logical given its cast and premise would transition seamlessly to the big screen. However, Until Dawn helped launch an entire game series due to its success and a poor movie could ruin its legacy, meaning the Until Dawn movie must overcome these potential problems.
Until Dawn Is Basically An Interactive Movie Already
One of Until Dawn‘s greatest attributes is that it is already essentially an interactive movie, but this could be a problem for the film. The gameplay involves walking, interacting with the environment, and making decisions, meaning it already plays out like a movie that the player controls. Player choice is a huge aspect of the game, as Until Dawn reinforces the importance of the butterfly effect, which the movie can’t include. Removing one of its main aspects would mean the adaptation has to find a way to offer something new, which will be difficult, especially if it reuses its cast.
Changing the cast wouldn’t make sense as the character models are based on the actors. The cast is already the perfect fit, but this creates a new problem as it leaves little opportunity to do something different, since these performances have been seen before. If they were to be replaced, the movie would be better going for a new story loosely based on the game, but it is unlikely to be what fans are looking for. The fundamentals of Until Dawn may work in a video game format, but it will be hard to pull off a creative movie adaptation.
Horror Games So Good They Were Made Into Movies
Immersive world-building and detailed characters aren’t the only reasons these horror games were so good they were made into movies.
An Until Dawn Movie Will Have To Condense Some Of The Game’s Greatest Parts
Until Dawn may be a relatively short video game, but the movie will still need to condense some of its greatest parts. The Five Night’s at Freddy’s movie’s box office success proved horror games can be adapted into hit films, but it had to massively deviate from the game to work. With Until Dawn, getting away from the pre-existing story that makes it suitable for an adaptation is difficult, and condensing around eight hours of gameplay into a two or three-hour movie will be a massive challenge. Doing this will mean missing out on some of the game’s best moments.
Character development and relationships are a huge part of the story and will likely be weaker in the film. Mike has a long section in the sanatorium during the video game that is key to his redemption arc, yet this will likely be significantly reduced, which could diminish his character. Even the Wendigo reveal may have to come much sooner, leaving less time for Josh and his sisters’ storylines. These cuts will be necessary to fit a cinematic run-time, but this will result in many important elements being missed and will be the Until Dawn movie’s biggest challenge.
