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Return to Silent Hill is an upcoming psychological horror film directed by Christophe Gans from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sandra Vo-Anh and William Josef Schneider, and starring Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson. It is an adaptation of Silent Hill 2 and a reboot of the 2006-2012 film series.

Gans, who had previously directed the 2006 film, and Victor Hadida became interested in revisiting the franchise after inheriting the film license from the late Samuel Hadida. Feeling that his sensibilities had changed over the years, Gans wanted to make a more modern and psychoanalytic Silent Hill film that was distinct from the style of the previous series.

He wrote the screenplay in collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment. Inspired by the myth of Orpheus, it follows the story of James Sunderland traveling through a Hellish town to save the love of his life from an unknown evil. The film prompted Konami to relaunch the Silent Hill game series, dormant since 2015, starting with Bloober Team's retelling of Silent Hill 2.

Plot synopsis[]

The film will follow James, a man broken after being separated from his one true love. When a mysterious letter calls him back to Silent Hill in search of her, he finds a once-recognizable town transformed by an unknown evil. As James descends deeper into the darkness, he encounters terrifying figures both familiar and new and begins to question his own sanity as he struggles to make sense of reality and hold on long enough to save his lost love.[3][4]

Cast[]

Production[]

Pre-production[]

If we want to keep the link with the audience, we have to be perfectly aware that everything has changed in 15 years. Everything has been washed away. We have to bring back something very surprising.
— Christophe Gans[12]
Presskitpage35-1

Director Christophe Gans on the set of Silent Hill (2006).

When Christophe Gans was developing the first Silent Hill film, released in 2006, he wanted to adapt Silent Hill 2 because he found it to be the most emotional of the original quadrilogy, calling it "a very tragic and romantic game, and a beautiful adaptation of the myth of Orpheus–going to hell to bring back Eurydice." However, he thought it would be difficult to adapt the second game without establishing the series' mythology and origin story first; hence, it was written as an adaptation of the original game instead.[13] The Orpheus motif was worked into the film, reinforced by a subplot in which Christopher Da Silva (portrayed by Sean Bean) searches the town for his wife and daughter.[14]

Years later, Gans and producer Victor Hadida realized they still owned the Silent Hill and Fatal Frame licenses after the death of former producer Samuel Hadida, which prompted an agreement among them: "We have to do something about it."[15][16][17] In January 2020, Gans told magazine Allocine that he was in the process of writing new screenplays based on the two properties with Hadida's involvement. He recalled the production of his previous Silent Hill film as a beautiful memory and had chosen not return for the sequel Revelation because of creative differences with the producers.[18]

Gans and Hadida developed the concept and pitched it to rights holder Konami. Gans finished the script under Konami's supervision, with his Beauty and the Beast co-writer Sandra Vo-Anh and collaborator William Josef Schneider, while isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Japanese executives intended to regain control of the film rights after the critical failure of Revelation.[15][19][2][20][21][22]

Gans conceived the film as a reboot, rather than a continuation of the previous duology. He felt the creative direction he took in 2006 had aged by modern standards, and wanted to make a new kind of Silent Hill film; one that was "more original and more surprising" like some of the contemporary horror films he had seen. He described the series as an anthology similar to The Twilight Zone, a place where any story could be told, and intended to depict a more psychoanalytic side to the town. He wanted to show that Silent Hill is not just a labyrinth that changes shape, but also a projection of tormented psyches.[19][21] Gans also took ques from P.T., the playable teaser to the cancelled game Silent Hills, because "it made us all dream."[22][23]

Return-to-silent-hill-pyramid

An early storyboard of Red Pyramid Thing.

By October 2022, the film was nearly fully storyboarded. Gans worked with Konami to create a new aesthetic for the monsters, including those that had been featured in his previous film, such as Red Pyramid Thing.[22][12]

Marketing[]

A featurrette of the film was released on October 18, 2022, alongside several game announcements including Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Team), Silent Hill ƒ, Townfall, and Ascension. According to Konami's assistant producer Rui Nato, the development of the film served as the catalyst for the revival of the Silent Hill game series.[24] Since Silent Hill 2 was rebooted by Bloober Team near the release of the film, the producers hoped to create brand synergy that would lead to a theatrical buy-in from the gamer community.[2] On May 9, 2024, a rough cut of the film was screened. A first look on Pyramid Head was shown at the Cannes Film Festival.[25]

Filming and editing[]

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Lake Ammer, one of the shooting locations.

World distribution was handled by The Veterans, who presented the film at the American Film Market in 2022 and sold it internationally. Production was carried out between the studios Maze Pictures, Metropolitan, Davis Films, The Electric Shadow Company, and Lotus Wallace, and co-funded by Ashland Hill Media Finance and FFF Bayern, the latter of whom contributed 1 million Euros to the project.

Principle photography commenced in April 2023 under the shooting title Room 318, with half of filming taking place in Munich, Penzing, Nuremberg, Rossberg and around Lake Ammer in Germany. Other scenes were shot in Belgrade, Serbia.[3][1][26][27][28] Filming wrapped in Munich in February 2024.[29] Cinematography was carried out by Benoit Debie and Pablo Rosso using impression filters, with production design by Felicity Abbott. Sébastian Prangère returns as the editor, reprising his role from Silent Hill (2006).[3][30]

Trivia[]

Shrteaser

Silent Hill: Revelation teaser poster.

  • The tagline "Return to Silent Hill" was previously used to promote Silent Hill: Revelation.
  • In January 2023, Jodelle Ferland, who portrayed Alessa Gillespie in the 2006 film, was interested in returning, stating "If I hear anything from them, I’m totally in! I would have been in the other ones if they wanted me to. If I ever have any opportunity to be involved in something Silent Hill in the future, I 100% would be in."[31]
  • In 2006, Gans expressed an interest in using the Red Nurse, Claudia Wolf, and the Doctor in future Silent Hill films, as well as developing a prequel set during the Salem witch trials.[13]
  • In 2012, Revelation director M.J. Bassett expressed an interest in adapting some of the Silent Hill graphic novels, in particular Past Life, and making a lower budget film exploring the darker sexual aspects of the series.[32]

Gallery[]

Trailers and marketing[]

Concept art and storyboards[]

Stills[]

Behind the scenes[]

External links[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://deadline.com/2023/02/return-silent-hill-horror-reboot-ashland-financing-efm-1235260455/
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 https://deadline.com/2022/11/horror-return-silent-hill-konami-franchise-launches-sales-afm-veterans-1235163582/
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 https://www.filmportal.de/nachrichten/fff-bayern-foerdert-kinofilm-von-benedict-cumberbatch-und-veronica-ferres-mit-laura
  4. https://deadline.com/2023/03/return-silent-hill-cast-jeremy-irvine-hannah-emily-anderson-jigsaw-xmen-plot-details-1235299997/
  5. https://deadline.com/2023/03/return-silent-hill-cast-jeremy-irvine-hannah-emily-anderson-jigsaw-xmen-plot-details-1235299997/
  6. https://twitter.com/emilycarding/status/1779490353286164873
  7. https://www.spotlight.com/news-and-advice/casting-story-evie-templeton-return-to-silent-hill/
  8. https://www.independenttalent.com/actors/evie-templeton/
  9. https://preview.redd.it/2rkimek2e99b1.jpg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=14ebefe053482c5e0b70167b2247a0e5bb463f38
  10. https://www.reddit.com/r/silenthill/comments/14nj1pq/new_photos_and_actors_from_return_to_silent_hill/
  11. https://i.imgur.com/45XJabx.jpeg
  12. 12.0 12.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZLrjCzVGz8
  13. 13.0 13.1 https://www.silenthillmemories.net/creators/interviews/2006.02.23_gans_yamoka_egm_en.htm
  14. Silent Hill (Blu-ray) Disc 2 - "Adapting a true work of art"; Shout Factory
  15. 15.0 15.1 https://www.jeuxactu.com/avec-christophe-gans-on-a-parle-du-pacte-des-loups-4k-de-silent-hill-d-127567.htm
  16. https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1/status/1536236824250634240
  17. https://www.gamesradar.com/silent-hill-film-director-claims-the-franchise-will-be-relaunched-as-part-of-a-multimedia-universe/
  18. https://www.allocine.fr/article/fichearticle_gen_carticle=18687475.html
  19. 19.0 19.1 https://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/1584421/silent-hill-un-reboot-au-cinema-par-christophe-gans-le-pacte-des-loups-pour-2023.htm
  20. https://www.ign.com/articles/silent-hill-director-says-multiple-silent-hill-games-in-development
  21. 21.0 21.1 https://www.resetera.com/threads/christophe-gans-director-of-the-first-silent-hill-film-upcoming-film-confirms-theres-several-games-in-production-with-members-of-team-silent.640842/
  22. 22.0 22.1 22.2 https://www-ecranlarge-com.translate.goog/films/dossier/1435959-le-pacte-des-loups-silent-hill-christophe-gans-pionnier-du-blockbuster-a-la-francaise?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
  23. https://www.polygon.com/23412809/silent-hill-movie-reboot-return-director
  24. https://youtu.be/oRvRWBQNrSI?t=1511
  25. https://variety.com/2024/film/markets-festivals/return-to-silent-hill-first-look-cannes-1236005880/
  26. https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3762135/return-to-silent-hill-filming-is-well-underway-on-new-movie-from-director-christophe-gans/
  27. https://preview.redd.it/ijae148lc09b1.jpg?width=385&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=a3218ed4bb17ccb786fce4e0d91e37fcf0b6b896
  28. https://rs.linkedin.com/in/zarko-stojanovic-1819b287
  29. https://youtube.com/shorts/_zLKbMeKRUg?si=diJcD2L1uFLm2u4p
  30. https://www.reddit.com/r/silenthill/comments/14mg9df/return_to_silent_hill_information_confirmed_and/
  31. https://www.relyonhorror.com/latest-news/silent-hill-news/jodelle-ferland-shares-her-thoughts-on-upcoming-silent-hill-movie-exclusive/
  32. https://www.polygon.com/2012/10/15/3507426/silent-hill-movie-director-would-love-to-explore-graphic-novels
  33. Variety: Return to Silent Hill’ Movie Reveals First Look at Pyramid Head, Previews at Cannes Film Festival
  34. "Day 17/56" of Return to Silent Hill filming.
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