Horror film legend John Carpenter really, really loves Dead Space. The director of The Thing, Halloween, and Escape From New York has talked about it extensively in the past. And amidst his love of the series, Carpenter may have just inadvertently teased a film adaptation before it was ever officially revealed.
In an interview with Variety, the publication nudged Carpenter on his past remarks about wanting to make a Dead Space film. In response, Carpenter backpedaled pretty significantly on the idea that he might be involved, but at the end let slip that “another director” was involved…implying such a thing exists in the first place.
“I’m a big video game fan, so I played all the [Dead Space] games,” Carpenter said. “I was down looking at the new digital cameras, the RED, and happened to mention to them that I would love to do a ‘Dead Space’ film. That just went around, and everybody said, ‘Oh, when are you gonna do it?’ I’m not gonna do it. I think they already have another director involved. And they haven’t asked me to do it. So until someone asks me, I wouldn’t do it. But there’s a new version of the ‘Dead Space’ video game coming out in January, and I’m there.”
It sounds like even if he’s not directing, Carpenter will be front and center as a fan for both the upcoming game, and whatever film adaptation may or may not be cooking. Elsewhere in the same interview, he said that a “perfect day” for him would involve getting up late, watching the news, playing a video game, watching basketball, and going to bed. Sounds pretty good.
Carpenter won’t have too long to wait. The remake of Dead Space is planned for release on January 26, 2023. An official launch trailer dropped just yesterday, and we just wrapped up a month of Dead Space IGN First content including revealing the first 18 minutes of gameplay, showing off graphics comparisons with the original, and a deep dive into how the story has been rewritten and improved.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.