Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Behavior Interactive have tapped Soder Palsson to direct the film version of the horror multiplayer game Dead by Daylight.
Mr. Palsson, who is originally from Iceland, is best known for creating and directing the country’s first Netflix original series, “The Valhalla Murders,” which premiered on the streamer in 2020. His feature directorial debut, The Damned, was widely released by Vertical and released in theaters in early 2025. Parson is currently producing Avalanche, a four-part miniseries about a meteorologist who returns to his village to spread warnings of impending disaster.
“As we approach our 10th anniversary, there is no better time to share this news,” said Jason Blum, founder and CEO of Blumhouse Atomic Monster. “Soder is the filmmaker we trust to bring ‘Dead by Daylight’ to theaters’ big screens.”
Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer survival horror game developed by Behavior Interactive and 505 Games. Each match involves 5 players, 4 of whom play as survivors and the remaining players are killers. It’s the survivor’s job to avoid getting caught while completing tasks to escape, and the killer’s job to stop them. There are currently dozens of killers in Dead by Daylight, but three arrived in the game in 2016: The Trapper, who uses bear traps to trap his victims, Wraith, a ghostly figure who can disappear, and Hillbilly, a chainsaw-wielding clone of Leatherface.
Once a joke in Hollywood, video game adaptations have become one of the most lucrative ventures in filmmaking. “The Minecraft Movie” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” were among the highest-grossing blockbusters of their respective years, raking in $960 million and $1.3 billion, respectively. Video game adaptations such as “Sonic the Hedgehog,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” and “Iron Lung” were also major sources of income.
Mr. Palsson is represented by Sail Screen, CAA, Sycamore Media and Jackoway Tyerman.
