Halloween Director Interested In A Dead Space Movie
Up there with dearly departed greats like Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Craven, and George A. Romero, John Carpenter represents a dying breed of horror director. While many of the greats have passed away and handed the baton to the likes of Jordan Peele and Mike Flanagan, Carpenter, Fincher, Del Toro, and the rest are doing it old school.
Much like how horror movies have evolved from silly slashers or supernatural duds you'd find at the bottom of a Blockbuster bargain bin in the '00s, horror games have had a similar resurgence. Resident Evil 7 took the franchise back to basics, Scorn looks like it's captured the spirit of the Alien movies, and Dead by Daylight has paved the way for asymmetrical horrors.
Also on the way is The Callisto Protocol as a spiritual successor to Dead Space, but what about the OG? We know Motive Studio is releasing a Dead Space remake in 2023, so there's no better time to talk about a potential live-action adaptation. Apparently, Carpenter thinks he's the man for the job.
Could John Carpenter Direct A Dead Space Movie?
In an interview with AV Club, the Halloween director explained that even at the age of 74, he has a love of video games - with a bizarre penchant for Fallout 76. As well as directing the 1978 debut of Michael Myers, Carpenter is an acclaimed composer. Sadly, the only game to feature his licensed work is 2002's underrated adaptation of Carpenter's The Thing.
When asked what game series he'd love to see turned into a movie, Carpenter gushed, "The only one I can think of, and I've mentioned it before, is Dead Space. That would make a real great movie. I could do that." It's far from confirmation he's signed up for a mythical Dead Space movie, but the fact he's mentioned it before should have film execs running to him with sacks of money.
Why Does John Carpenter Love Dead Space?
Click to enlargeBack in 2013, Carpenter told Game Informer (via Videogamer) "I maintain that Dead Space would just make a great movie because you have these people coming onto an abandoned, shut-down space ship and they have to start it up and something's on board. It's just great stuff." All those years ago, he called it "ready-made," so why hasn't someone not snapped his hand off to make one?
We've had a dip into this world before with the animated Dead Space: Downfall in 2008 and Dead Space: Aftermath as a 2011 sequel. When Carpenter first threw his hat in the ring in 2013, EA announced its plans for a Dead Space movie that wouldn't be like Event Horizon or Alien, but a decade later, we're still waiting. It's true that the DOOM and Resident Evil movies haven't given us much hope for live-action horror game adaptations, but if Chris Pratt can lead a Mario movie, anything is possible.
