It has been literally years since anything at all has happened with the Silent Hill franchise. Once a pillar of horror, it has been sitting on the sidelines for some time. No longer. Konami announced several days ago that a live livestream event was happening today to go over the franchise’s future, and man, oh man, they weren’t kidding. Amongst many other things, it has been confirmed that a brand new movie titled Return to Silent Hill is coming.
The above video offers the film’s first look and details, with storyboards included. Christophe Gans, who directed the original Silent Hill movie, is returning to helm this reboot. What’s more, during the presentation, it was explained that Konami essentially built this entire relaunch, including a Silent Hill 2 remake, around the movie pitched by Gans. That indicates a strong bit of confidence in what he and his team have cooked up.
While we didn’t get any footage or casting details, Gans said during the presentation, “[Silent Hill 2] is much more about psychological horror even if we are going to find again all the same creatures and the same terror sequences.” Producer Victor Hadida also weighed in, adding that “there is a clear idea from Christophe to make it modern, but also very true to the video game…Christophe is really somebody that respects the work that has been done, but that also has his own vision.”
2006’s Silent Hill movie was, at best, a modest success. It earned $94 million against a reported $50 million budget and was met with mixed reviews at the time. That said, it has since been widely embraced by many in the horror community as a damn fine film, even if it doesn’t closely mirror the games. A follow-up, Silent Hill: Revelation, hit theaters in 2012 and earned $55 million against a $20 million budget. That was the last time the series hit the big screen. But Gans has big plans, and Konami is backing him in a big way.
The first movie was distributed by Sony Pictures. It’s clear that Konami is fully on board with this new film, but it’s unclear who they are partnering with for distribution. Is it going to be Sony again? Is it going to get a theatrical release? Or will a streaming service like Netflix swoop in on this one? We’ll surely learn more in the not-too-distant future.
Return to Silent Hill does not yet have a release date set. This, along with the news that a full-on remake (not a remaster!) of Silent Hill 2 is headed our way. Check out that trailer right here.
