David F. Sandberg announced that his feature film adaptation of the Until Dawn video game had wrapped production, and now Sony Pictures has given the project a release date. Until Dawn will hit theaters on April 25, 2025, which will place it in direct competition with The Accountant 2, which is slated to open on the same day.
The original Until Dawn video game was released on PlayStation 4 in 2015. It finds the players taking control of eight young adults who must survive on Blackwood Mountain until they are rescued. The game features a butterfly effect system in which players must make choices that may change the story. Depending on the choices made, all the playable characters have the chance to survive or die.
The movie stars Ella Rubin (The Idea of You), Michael Cimino (Love, Victor), Ji-young Yoo (Expats), Belmont Cameli (Saved by the Bell), Odessa A’zion (Hellraiser), and Maia Mitchell (The Artful Dodger). Peter Stormare also appears, reprising his role as Dr. Alan Hill from the game. Sandberg directed the film from a screenplay by Gary Dauberman. Blair Butler penned the previous draft. The project has previously been described as an “R-rated love letter to the horror genre, centering on an ensemble cast.“
Until Dawn is set up at 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 is producing the film through his company Coin Operated, while Sandberg and Lotta Losten produce through their Mångata shingle. Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment and PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan are also producing.
Sandberg has spent the last few years in the world of Shazam, directing Shazam! and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but it’s nice to see him returning to his horror roots. He got his big break when his horror short, Lights Out, went viral and attracted a lot of interest from Hollywood. He helmed a feature film adaptation of Lights Out and went on to join The Conjuring Universe by directing Annabelle: Creation.