The upcoming Dead by Daylight movie will be helmed by Icelandic film director Thordur Palsson (The Damned, The Valhalla Murders), using a screenplay from Alexandre Aja (director of Never Let Go, Crawl, and Piranha 3D) and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (the writer of three films in The Conjuring series, and both Aquaman films).
The news was announced during the Dead by Daylight 10th anniversary broadcast, with Blumhouse founder Jason Blum and producer Stephen Mulrooney joining Palsson on stage.
“For me, the main thing is capturing the feeling of playing Dead by Daylight,” said Palsson. “The main thing is I want to capture the feeling of looking over your shoulder. I want to capture the dread, the tension, the fear of what’s waiting for you in The Fog.”
“I love horror that stays with you after it’s over, and that’s the cinematic experience we want to bring to the big screen for you guys.”
Iconic locations like The MacMillan Estate and Greenville will feature in the film, which is expected to begin shooting in 2027.
The film adaptation of Dead by Daylight was first announced back in March 2023, though it was clarified at the time that the project was only in its initial stages and the search for a screenwriter and a director had only just begun.
Developed and published by Canadian studio Behaviour Interactive, Dead by Daylight is a one-versus-four online asymmetric multiplayer survival-horror game, famous for its long list of crossovers with existing horror films, TV shows, and games – including Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Child’s Play, Hellraiser, Scream, The Evil Dead, Alien, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and many, many more. Oh, and also… Nicolas Cage.
Dead by Daylight was first released on PC in 2016, but has since found its way to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.
