The Silent Hill movies have been… movies. That’s for sure. But maybe the third time is the charm as filming is about to get underway on the movie Return to Silent Hill, a direct adaptation of Silent Hill 2, and the film now has its two lead actors cast and released an official plot description, which is basically just a copy-paste of the game’s plot description.
Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) and Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw) will play the film’s two lead roles. Irvine will star as James, who receives a mysterious message calling him to Silent Hill, where he will find his lost love of his life, played by Anderson. Unfortunately for him, once he arrives he finds that Silent Hill is not the town he recognizes at all, and it has turned evil. He’ll descend into darkness (and sexy, demon nurses-ness) to save his lost love, but he’ll probably go a little crazy doing it.
The movie finds Christophe Gans, who directed 2006’s Silent Hill film, returning to the director’s chair, and it seems to be pretty much ignoring 2012’s Silent Hill: Revelation and acting as a reboot to the film side of the series. It is also part of Konami’s effort to relaunch the franchise as a whole, as the company is working on several new Silent Hill games that will hopefully bring the horror game back to its previous glory. That also means that the film will not be a completely straight adaptation of the second game as the filmmakers work to be in line with Konami’s vision of the franchise’s future, which includes a Silent Hill 2 remake.
“Christophe and I have been working closely with our partners at Konami, as they update the video game, to also create a version of Silent Hill for the theatrical audiences of today,” said the film’s producer, Victor Hadida. “You will still find the iconic monsters – but there will also be new designs. We are confident that this new film and Konami’s updated game together will propel the franchise forward for years to come.”
Of course, part of the brilliance of Silent Hill 2 was how the game played with the player’s own sense of sanity. How the film will capture that kind of horror is yet to be seen. But if you were wondering about the lead actors or general plot of Return to Silent Hill, now you know.
