After weeks of speculation and a cryptic social media post, Lollipop Chainsaw has been confirmed to receive a full remake in 2023 - complete with updated graphics and a new soundtrack. Developed by No More Heroes studio Grasshopper Manufacture and co-written by James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad fame, the original Lollipop Chainsaw was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012 and achieved a cult following due to its over-the-top tone and morbid sense of humor that harkened back to pulpy horror fiction like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Players took on the role of Juliet Starling, a high school cheerleader who battled hordes of zombies with the help of her trusty chainsaw and the talking, disembodied head of her boyfriend Nick.
Despite its positive reception and high sales figures, Lollipop Chainsaw never had any sequels or updated ports for later consoles and was even left out of Xbox’s backward compatibility catalog and Sony’s new PlayStation Plus line-up. However, there have been signs that Lollipop Chainsaw is set to return in the new console generation. Back in June, original Lollipop Chainsaw producer Yoshimi Yasuda tweeted that the campy zombie hack-and-slash classic that he helped publish under his old company Kadokawa Games would be making a comeback under his brand-new studio Dragami Games. The message was vague enough to leave fans speculating whether this would be a simple remaster or a full-on remake of Lollipop Chainsaw, but it was enough to get fans excited at the possibility of slaying the undead hordes as Juliet once more.
Earlier today, July 5, IGN broke the news that Lollipop Chainsaw is indeed receiving a full remake in 2023, as confirmed by Yoshimi Yasuda and Dragami Games. This project hasn’t received an official title yet and it isn’t clear if it would be available on last-gen consoles in addition to the modern PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, but Yasuda noted that its development staff will contain a mix of people who worked on the original Lollipop Chainsaw and the new team at Dragami Games. He also revealed that this new Lollipop Chainsaw remake will feature “a more realistic approach to graphics” to account for modern hardware, but that the original’s soundtrack of licensed music (including Toni Basil’s 1981 hit “Mickey”) would be replaced with brand-new tracks due to licensing issues.
Yoshima Yasuda explained that the original Lollipop Chainsaw was never brought to later consoles after its 2012 release due to various factors, and that this was a strong motivation for him and Dragami Games to purchase the IP from original publisher Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment for this upcoming remake. It isn’t clear if Grasshopper Manufacture head Goichi “Suda51” Suda or James Gunn will be involved with the new Lollipop Chainsaw remake in any capacity, but both have recently mentioned the original while celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
Still, fans who fell in love with the original Lollipop Chainsaw’s brutal zombie-slaying combat and dark, quirky humor will no doubt be excited for this now-confirmed remake - even if some of the game's memorable background music won't make the jump to modern hardware. An exact release date has yet to be revealed, but the new Lollipop Chainsaw remake will be arriving sometime next year.
Source: IGN