Isabella Merced is set to star in a new film adaptation of House of the Dead, as Sega’s long-running video game series returns to theaters in a reboot designed to launch a bigger screen series. The project will be written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, who has experience adapting game-driven mayhem for the Resident Evil film series, 1995’s Mortal Kombat, and Monster Hunter.
From arcade phenomenon to cornerstone of the genre
First released in 1997, The House of the Dead began life as an arcade light gun shooter built around speed, spectacle, and relentless forward movement. Designed for arcades and later adapted for consoles and home systems, the series quickly became known for forcing players into constant action rather than careful survival, with enemies quickly swarming and often overwhelming the screen.
The series follows special agents sent into an outbreak zone infested with biologically engineered undead, referred to throughout the series as “creatures” or “mutants.” Missions are made up of several chapters and usually end with a large boss encounter. Many of them are themed around the major arcana of the occult tarot. Player choices often determine branching paths, alternate endings, and unlockable content, giving the series a sense of momentum and consequences rather than a linear shooter experience.
A world built on escalation and spectacle
Although each individual game introduces new characters, weapons, and enemy types, House of the Dead’s core identity remains consistent: escalating terror, increasingly elaborate monster designs, and an emphasis on spectacle. This approach helped distinguish the series from the slow, methodical horror games of the time, and is one of the reasons why the series is often credited, along with Resident Evil, with helping popularize zombie video games in the late 1990s.
The impact wasn’t just limited to games. The series’ emphasis on speed and scale influenced broader changes in the way zombies were portrayed in mainstream pop culture, and likely contributed to a renewed interest in the fast-moving undead across film and television in the years that followed.
Anderson’s approach and franchise ambitions
Anderson’s involvement shows a familiar creative lane. His Resident Evil movies favored momentum, advanced visuals, and world-building over exacting game-to-screen replication, and perhaps a similar philosophy is on display here. The new film is arranged for immediacy and immersion, with an emphasis on keeping events tightly contained rather than spreading them across disconnected set pieces.
Merced will also serve as executive producer and will continue working on high-profile genre projects. She recently appeared as Hawkgirl in Superman and will reprise the role in Man of Tomorrow. Her recent credits also include Season 2 of The Last of Us and 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi hit Alien: Romulus.
Anderson will serve as a producer behind the scenes alongside longtime collaborator Jeremy Bolt, with Sega’s Toru Nakahara also serving as a producer. Joining Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Michael Lawrence Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson, Rocket Science will begin international sales in the European film market with domestic representation from CAA Media Finance.
House of the Dead has been made into films before, most notably the 2003 film directed by Uwe Boll, which was widely criticized despite a sequel released on DVD in 2004. This new installment is clearly aimed at resetting expectations, focusing more on the scale and identity of the series rather than past failures.
Deadline broke the news about Isabella Merced’s casting and the current status of the project.
If you look back at the original game’s intro, it looks like this:
