Dead by Daylight Gets Director
Blumhouse and Atomic Monster Tap Thordur Palsson to Direct Upcoming Dead by Daylight Film
Key Points
Blumhouse and Atomic Monster CEO James Wan said the adaptation is timed to connect with the game’s scale, adding: “One million people step into Dead by Daylight daily,” and that the film needs to reflect “terror only lands if you care about who's running,” citing Thordur Palsson’s work on “The Damned.”
Variety reports the movie is based on a version of the game developed by Behaviour Interactive *and* 505 Games, and highlights that the game launched with specific killers—The Trapper (bear traps), The Wraith (can turn invisible), and The Hillbilly (chainsaw-wielding Leatherface clone).
The director reveal was made during the franchise’s 10th-anniversary event in Montreal, specifically at Montreal’s Old Port, with Jason Blum describing Palsson as the filmmaker they trust to bring the game “from the screen you play on to the big screen you watch in theaters.”
In addition to the film, Dread Central (as cited by Bleeding Cool) reported that an animated series based on Dead by Daylight is also in the works.
Blumhouse and Atomic Monster have chosen Icelandic director Thordur Palsson to helm the live-action Dead by Daylight film, the companies announced at the game's 10th-anniversary event in Montreal. The director reveal came alongside confirmation that the screenplay is already finished, written by Alexandre Aja and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Production is set to begin in early 2027. IGN reported the news during the June celebration at Montreal's Old Port.
The game has a massive audience. James Wan, CEO of Atomic Monster, put it plainly: "One million people step into Dead by Daylight daily." Wan added that "the terror only lands if you care about who's running," signaling the film will lean on character stakes, not just scares. Bleeding Cool noted an animated series based on the game is also in development, making this the start of a larger franchise push.
Why Blumhouse Picked an Icelandic Art-Horror Director
Palsson is best known for The Valhalla Murders and his 2025 psychological horror film The Damned. He is not a big-budget action guy. That is exactly the point. Jason Blum described him as the filmmaker they trust to take the game "from the screen you play on to the big screen you watch in theaters," according to IGN. The hire signals a slow-burn, atmospheric approach — think dread and tension, not jump-cut carnage.
Palsson himself said he wants to capture "the feeling of looking over your shoulder... the dread, the tension, the fear of what's waiting for you in The Fog." The Fog is the supernatural mist that traps players in the game. His words match the tone Blumhouse used when it bet on Five Nights at Freddy's in 2023 — a prestige-horror approach aimed at fans who already love the source material, according to Geek Culture.
A Game About Four Survivors and One Very Bad Night
Dead by Daylight launched on June 14, 2016. Behaviour Interactive built it and 505 Games helped publish it, according to IGN. The core loop is simple: four survivors must repair five generators and escape while one killer hunts them. The game started with three killers — The Trapper (uses bear traps), The Wraith (can turn invisible), and The Hillbilly (chainsaw-wielding, described at launch as a Leatherface-style clone). Over a decade, the roster grew to 41 killers and 51 survivors.
The game now has 70 million lifetime players across all platforms. Licensed horror icons like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Leatherface were added over the years. The film, however, is expected to focus on original lore rather than those licensed characters. Nordic IGN reported the script incorporates iconic in-game locations like the MacMillan Estate and the town of Greenville, likely to sidestep complex multi-studio rights deals.
Two Veteran Screenwriters Built the Script Around Survival Dread
Alexandre Aja wrote the screenplay alongside David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Aja directed High Tension and Crawl — both lean, violent survival-horror films. Johnson-McGoldrick wrote The Conjuring 2 and Aquaman. Together they bring both extreme-horror instincts and big-studio storytelling experience. The script is already complete, which puts the project ahead of many game adaptations that are still in early development years after announcement, according to Bleeding Cool.
The initial film deal between Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, and Behaviour Interactive was announced in 2023. It took roughly three years to land a director and finish a script. Some fans on Reddit have noted that gap with skepticism. But with Palsson signed, a finished screenplay, and a 2027 production start confirmed, the project now has more concrete momentum than at any point since that first announcement, according to IGN.
A 10th-Anniversary Reveal Built to Grow a Franchise
The director announcement was timed carefully. It dropped at the 10th-anniversary event at Montreal's Old Port, where over 3,000 fans gathered. The same week, the game's 40th Chapter — featuring Jason Voorhees — was scheduled for release. Blumhouse is following the same playbook it used with Five Nights at Freddy's: announce the film when the fanbase is already buzzing, then ride that energy into production, according to Geek Culture.
The animated series reported by Dread Central, as cited by Bleeding Cool, suggests Blumhouse and Atomic Monster are not thinking about a single film. They are building what fans are already calling a "Fog-verse." With 1 million daily players and a game that has run for a decade without slowing down, the audience is already there. The film just has to be good enough to bring them to a theater.
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