Until Dawn First Look Explains the Movie’s Differences from the Game

Sony has released a first look teaser at its upcoming adaptation of Until Dawn. Adaptation is being used pretty loosely in this context, as the film does not directly cover the events of the PlayStation 4 game. We’ve known for some time now that the filmmakers planned on telling an original story, but we didn’t know exactly how that would work in practice. In a short video, Sony has now revealed the basic concept of Until Dawn, and how it relates to the source material. Apparently, the filmmakers are trying to replicate the gameplay’s basic concepts instead of its storyline.

In the first look video, writer/producer Gary Dauberman explains that his goal was to not give audiences the same experience they had while playing the game. Director David F. Sandberg says that the movie will have “the same tone and the same vibe, but it expands upon the universe.” Sandberg goes on to say that the game had players making different choices that resulted in the characters having different deaths. The film will attempt to replicate that idea, where the characters die and essentially start over in a different horror genre. To actually make it out alive, they have to make it through these events until dawn. The first look video can be found below.

All in all, this sounds like a fascinating attempt at bringing the game to the big screen. Like the movie, the Until Dawn video game mashed up different horror genres, starting out as something closer to a slasher film, before pivoting to a creature feature. In that way, the concept of these characters waking up in new horror genres does fit in pretty well with the game. Whether or not fans of Until Dawn will enjoy the result remains to be seen, but it’s an interesting approach, and the filmmakers clearly put a lot of thought into how best to adapt the game.

In addition to the concept of characters having multiple deaths, the filmmakers have also brought over one of the main actors from the game; Peter Stormare will be back in the film. In the Until Dawn video game, Stormare played Dr. Alan J. Hill, and he will also play someone named “Hill” in the movie. However, these two do not appear to be the same character.

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Unfortunately, the first look doesn’t offer a whole lot more information. We’re given some brief teases of the main cast, and some of the freakier occurrences they’ll be dealing with. The end of the first look promises that a trailer for Until Dawn will be arriving soon, so hopefully Sony won’t be keeping us in suspense for too much longer. With the movie slated to arrive in theaters on April 25th, we can probably expect to see something within the next few weeks, as Sony begins the hype cycle.

Are you looking forward to Until Dawn? Would you have preferred a direct adaptation? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!