Video games remain hot property for movie adaptations, despite being hit or miss (mostly miss) at the box office. The Resident Evil franchise has managed to keep raking it in for fourteen years and six movies, proving that it's possible to have a hugely successful franchise based on a video game. However, the majority of video game adaptations have bombed at the box office, with the most recent casualty being last year's Assassin's Creed. Despite that, game adaptations keep getting made, and there are more coming up in the near future, including the reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise starring Alicia Vikander.
Now, another video game is entering the film adaptation arena, but it's not one of the biggest names in gaming, or a massive gaming franchise for once. Instead, it's a smaller, indie game that is going to be stepping up to the plate in the near future, as we learn that an adaptation of We Happy Few is in the works.
We Happy Few is an indie survival horror game from Compulsion Games, and is now being developed into a movie with dj2 Entertainment and Gold Circle Entertainment, according to Variety. The project is being produced by Paul Brooks (Gold Circle), Dmitri M. Johnson (CEO of dj2), and Dan Jevons (Chief Content Officer dj2). Stephan Bugaj (dj2) will be executive producer. The game is set in the '60s, in a small town in England where the government is controlling the population with drugs. It is described by Compulsion as "A game of paranoia and survival, in a drugged-out, dystopian English city in 1964". Guillaume Provost, head developer at Compulsion Games says of the project:
"Dmitri, Stephan, and Dan approached us enthusiastically with really solid ideas about how to adapt our game to film while retaining its menace, dark humor, and central themes."
Gold Circle Entertainment are known for their work on Pitch Perfect and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and with the black humor of the game, there is little doubt that We Happy Few is going to be a dark comedy. The project currently does not have a screenwriter or director attached.
This is exciting news for video game and horror fans, and especially thrilling for fans of the game itself. It's great to see more adaptations being made of indie games, and if this is a success, it could open the door to see more lesser-known properties getting the big screen treatment. Of course, this project is still in the very early stages, and it's not a sure thing just yet - much bigger adaptations have ended up in development hell, and that's always a possibility for a project like this one. The next step for We Happy Few will be to get a scriptwriter on board, so check back for updates soon.
We will keep you updated on We Happy Few as the project develops.
Source: Variety