Last year, we learned that Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg would be re-teaming with Annabelle: Creation screenwriter Gary Dauberman for a movie based on the horror video game Until Dawn. Production began in August, wrapping in October, and the film reached theatres last month, earning a 6/10 review from JoBlo’s own Tyler Nichols at the time. Now, Until Dawn has received a digital release and is available to rent on Amazon for $19.99, or purchase for the price of $24.99.
As The Hollywood Reporter previously noted, first released in 2015, Until Dawn is an interactive horror video game that follows eight friends and frenemies who are brought together a remote mountain retreat. With live or die scenarios featuring a mysterious killer, cannibalistic wendigos, a cable car, and a long-ago mining cave-in that reverberates into the present day, the members of the group must fight through their fear if they all hope to make it through the night in one piece. The game proved to be a surprise hit with critics and received numerous gaming awards nominations.
Sandberg and Dauberman’s adaptation was described as being an “R-rated love letter to the horror genre, centering on an ensemble cast.” Dauberman’s script is a rewrite of a previous draft by Blair Butler, who wrote the vampire movie The Invitation. The story centers on Clover, a young woman who visits a remote cabin with her friends in the wake of her sister Melanie’s disappearance.
Until Dawn comes our way from Sony’s Screen Gems, where Dauberman has a first-look deal as part of the plan to “rebuild Screen Gems, Sony’s division focused on lower-budgeted fare, into a more productive label, with horror being a top focus.” Dauberman produced the film through his company Coin Operated while Sandberg and Lotta Losten produced through their Mångata shingle. Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan are also produced. Ashley Brucks and Michael Bitar oversaw the project for Screen Gems.
The film’s cast includes Ella Rubin of The Idea of You and the upcoming Fear Street: Prom Queen, Odessa A’zion of the recent Hellraiser reboot and the sitcom Fam, Michael Cimino of Love, Victor and Annabelle Comes Home, and Ji-young Yoo of Expats and Smoking Tigers. His fellow new additions are Belmont Cameli of Along for the Ride and Saved by the Bell and Maia Mitchell of The Fosters and Good Trouble. Peter Stormare (Fargo, John Wick: Chapter 2) is also in there, reprising his role from the video game.
Will you be watching Until Dawn now that it has gotten a digital release? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
