The 2022 horror movie Barbarian wasn’t on my short list of recent films I thought might get a video game adaptation. But it sounds like one is coming from the company behind the Friday the 13th and Evil Dead games.
Diversion3 Entertainment, who is behind the aforementioned horror adaptations, announced it has entered an agreement with New Regency, the production company behind last year’s horror hit. There’s currently no word on a publisher or developer, but it sounds like the movie won’t be a direct adaptation of the movie.
“We’re very excited to work with the team at New Regency to expand on the settings, characters, and creatures of Barbarian,” said Tim Hesse, Executive Producer of Diversion3 Entertainment in a statement to Bloody Disgusting. “The film did a magnificent job of not only scaring audiences with its unexpected and horrifying twists and turns, but also in establishing strong characters thrown into terrifying situations.
“We look forward to exploring these themes further in the game.”
The 2022 film stars Georgina Campbell (Murdered by my Boyfriend), Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers), and Bill Skarsgård (the It remakes) and focuses on an Airbnb stay gone terribly wrong after the guests discover the home they’re staying in is inhabited by a monstrous woman in the basement. Things escalate from there, but even so, I’m curious how the premise gets made into a video game. But given that Friday the 13th and Evil Dead were asymmetrical multiplayer games instead of direct adaptations, it’s likely Barbarian is due for a shake-up in its movie-to-game translation.
Barbarian was well-received last year, and was directed by Zach Cregger, who also plays Everett in the film. Cregger has gone on to do a lot as a writer, director, and actor over the years, but he will always be Zach from The Whitest Kids U’ Know, to me.
