One of Hollywood’s most high-profile forthcoming video game adaptations has reached an important milestone. The film in question, Until Dawn, has been steadily progressing forward ever since it was first announced in January. A cast for the movie, an adaptation of the popular 2015 horror game of the same name, was subsequently put together in June and August, consisting of stars like Ella Rubin, Ji-young Yoo, Michael Cimino, Maia Mitchell, and Peter Stormare. The latter actor is set to reprise his role as Dr. Alan J. Hill from the original Until Dawn video game.
Now, just nine months after it was announced, filming has officially wrapped on Until Dawn. Director David F. Sandberg shared the news on his Instagram, writing, “We made it until dawn! That’s a wrap on #UntilDawnMovie.” Sandberg accompanied the caption with an image of him holding up the official Until Dawn film slate in front of a bloody mirror.
The director’s announcement comes three months after principal photography began on the film in Budapest in August. The movie does not have a release date yet, but this update nicely sets it up to potentially debut in theaters sometime next year.
Until Dawn marks Sandberg’s long-awaited return to the horror genre. The director got his start in Hollywood directing mid-budget studio horror movies like 2016’s Lights Out, which was based on a short film he directed in 2013, and 2017’s Annabelle: Creation. He then went on to spend several years working within the comic book movie machine, helming 2019’s Shazam! and its sequel, Shazam! Fury of the Gods. The latter film hit theaters in March 2023 and was considered both a critical and financial disappointment.
Sandberg’s Until Dawn boasts a script written by Salem’s Lot director and Annabelle: Creation writer Gary Dauberman. It is produced by Sony’s Screen Gems and PlayStation Productions, and Sandberg previously told The Hollywood Reporter that the film will explore “the many great subgenres of horror.”
Based on the director’s recent behind-the-scenes photo, it doesn’t seem like his Until Dawn adaptation will have any trouble at least matching the gorier and more brutal aspects of its source material. Until Dawn fans will, however, have to wait to see how well the film manages to recapture the interactive unpredictability of the original game, which winds its way toward several different possible outcomes depending on the various mistakes and decisions its players make.
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