Until Dawn is getting a movie adaptation. Or is it? The trailer is out and it doesn't have anything to do with the game, really.
Fans are fuming after seeing the trailer for the new Until Dawn movie adaptation. Here's why:
A Popular Game Gets A Controversial Adaptation
Until Dawn, the survival horror game in the shape of an interactive movie, was a big hit back when it initially launched in 2015. It seemed like every creator in the gaming scene was playing it, often even multiple times to try out different choices.
Recently, the game returned to the spotlight with a 2024 remake that included better graphics, a new and more detailed intro scene and even a new possible ending. But the remake isn't the only reason the game is getting traction again. There's also a movie adaptation that's supposed to premiere in April 2025.
The problem? The movie's trailer is already out and it seems to have practically nothing to do with the video game. Let's start with the cast: The only actor from the original cast who's returning is Peter Stormare. And while it's great to see such a big name return to the franchise, he also doesn't play the same character as he did in the game.
Of course, it's understandable that the rest of the cast is swapped - after all, the cast of both the game and the movie is supposed to consist of young adults and the original actors have aged by a decade since the game's release. But the bigger problem for fans is that the movie doesn't even try to recreate the game's characters with a new cast - instead, it features completely new protagonists.
And even worse, it also has an entirely new plot. At the latest, this is where the movie doesn't really have anything to do with the video game anymore. Most likely, the issue with turning the game into a movie is this: Until Dawn, the video game, was already supposed to be an interactive movie. And not just any movie, it was supposed to be an interactive slasher movie.
In Need Of A New Concept
Now, slasher movies are a pretty unique horror subgenre in that almost every movie in this genre has almost the same basic plot: A group of teenagers or young adults goes to an isolated location and gets into a life-threatening situation that makes it nearly impossible to call for help from the outside. The characters die one by one and there are either no survivors or one protagonist, typically the so-called "final girl", who makes it out alive.
The game Until Dawn consciously played with these clichés. Young adults go to a mountain lodge in the middle of winter, find their lives threatened and, due to a snow storm raging outside, have to wait until dawn (notice something?) for help to arrive. Slight spoiler: While, as advertised, all of the characters can either survive or die, Sam is the typical final girl who automatically survives until the end and can only die in one of the last scenes.
But why is the game so popular if it just follows a fairly stereotypical slasher plot? Because this time, instead of sitting in front of a screen and shaking your head at the characters' decisions, you as the player have the responsibility to get them out of there alive. The game follows the butterfly effect where your decisions influence the course of the game.
So the original Until Dawn had a cliché movie plot where the special catch was that it was interactive. Now that the game is supposed to be turned into a movie, it can't be interactive anymore, so the main trait that fascinated players about the game is gone. Instead, the movie needed a new concept to stand out.
The movie's trailer tells us what this new concept is:
Can you make it until dawn? @UntilDawn_Movie is coming exclusively to theatres April 25. #UntilDawnMovie pic.twitter.com/Nt83o0fYuQ
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) January 16, 2025
So in the Until Dawn movie, the characters are stuck in a time loop. They die in a new way every day, which makes it possible for the movie to explore different horror subgenres, from slasher to body horror. Plus they need to stop the loop before the 13th time as that would irreversibly end their lives. Generally, this is an interesting concept but the main issue that the game's fans have with it is that it feels more like a horror version of Groundhog Day than an adaption of Until Dawn.
An Angry Community
At least one aspect of the game Until Dawn will be in the movie, though. But be careful, it's a spoiler if you don't know the game's full plot yet: The wendigo, the main threat in the game, will appear in one of the time loops in the movie. Other than this, however, it has an entirely new plot, which got the YouTube trailer many upset comments such as:
This isn't Until Dawn. I doubt the writers even looked, or even had a TASTE of the actual game, cause I've never seen an adaptation butchered, so horribly. - @SamGaming3V
"Nobodys made it past 13 nights"Ngl 13 Nights would have been a better title because this isn't Until Dawn - @ElasticGoblin
Until dawn: A game where one's choices are irreversible This movie: REWIND TIME - @reefs7386
Judging by these comments, the audience's main issue isn't the movie itself, it's that it calls itself an Until Dawn adaptation despite having a completely different plot from the game.
Do you agree with these complaints or are you still excited about the new concept? Do you think there would have been a better way of turning the game into a movie? Let us know in the comments!
