Two years ago, the original trailer for Deep Silver's Dead Island quickly went viral. the storytelling combination of CGI footage and emotionally perfect music told a heart wrenching story, explaining exactly why (despite the over abundance of movies and television shows that make it seem a bit appealing) a zombie apocalypse happening would be far from the coolest thing ever.
By showing a family on vacation being literally and figuratively being ripped apart, it did to gamers and horror buffs what Nicholas Sparks novels did to soccer moms. The trailer hit the audience right in the gut, and gave them the feign sense that perhaps someone was cutting onions nearby. And what's more? The trailer accomplished it in under three minutes. The trailer's reverse order, interspersed with quick jump cuts, only added the the mystery. The game? Not so much. Admittedly, I care more about this nameless family than I did about any of the game's protagonists trying to escape the island.
Even if you weren't a fan of the trailer (or the game for that matter), it's hard to ignore what it accomplished. In the first few days, it gathered over 2.5 million views, and shortly after the trailer hit, and long before any gameplay footage was shown, or copies of the game ordered, Lionsgate quickly scooped up movie rights for Dead Island. Just on the strength of the trailer alone. The trailer for Riptide wasn't too shabby either.
Lionsgate has the rights to the official movie, but things have been relatively quiet on that front, save for the fact that it's being produced by Sean Daniel of "The Mummy," and like the trailer, the movie will be, according to the studio, "an innovation of the zombie genre because of its focus on human emotion, family ties and non-linear storytelling." How about that? A movie based on a game that's actually based more on the game's announcement trailer than the game itself.
Lionsgate may be zombie shuffling on the movie, but not BJ McDonnell. The steadicam operator has worked on a slew of horror shows and movies, like "The Walking Dead," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "The Lords of Salem," and even video game based fare like "Mortal Kombat: Legacy." But this time around, he's sitting into the director's chair for a live, shot for shot remake of the uber-popular trailer. And yeah, it's really friggin' good. Even after multiple viewings of the original trailer, I have to admit, the live remake still packs a wallop.
For comparison sake, we've embedded both the live action and the original trailer below, the live action version first, followed by the original. The final ending is a nice mini-homage honoring the initial idea. Check it out for yourself.