Resident Evil producer Roy Lee won’t settle for nailing just a Resident Evil movie but is also planning a new take on the Silent Hill franchise.
Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil hasn’t been in cinemas for even a week and has already broken a franchise record. Cregger’s take on the popular video game franchise grossed a very impressive $60m on its opening weekend, far better than any of its numerous predecessors.
It seems that producer Roy Lee wants to repeat that success. Talking to the Wall Street Journal (here via Bloody Disgusting), the producer confirmed that he’s now working on a new Silent Hill project. He wouldn’t say much about his plans or who might be helming the upcoming take, but at least we know a new Silent Hill project is on the way.
Lee has had a long career in producing, particularly horror films. His credits include this year’s Hokum, Cregger’s Weapons and Barbarian, Strange Darling and Late Night With The Devil, to mention a few of his more recent ones.
Much like Resident Evil before Cregger, Silent Hill has been a franchise that has had a hard time on the big screen. Filmmakers have tried and largely failed to bring the games’ unique terror and monsters to life. The first attempt in 2006 was a respectable effort but ultimately failed to impress.
The latest Silent Hill film, Return To Silent Hill, released earlier this year and only grossed $47.9m worldwide with a budget of $23m.
The first Silent Hill game was released back in 1999 and there have been eight main games plus a fair few remakes and spin-offs, so there is plenty of material to go from.
The latest Silent Hill game, Silent Hill: Townfall, is also being released just this week. In this spin-off, gamers play as Simon, who wakes up on a Scottish island without memory of how he ended up there and so far, reviews for Townfall have been very positive.
Resident Evil seems to have proven that you need a much more unique take on a franchise than just repeating the games’ greatest hits. If Lee hopes to make Silent Hill work, he’ll need to bring in a lot more than recreate Pyramid Head.
