During a recent livestream dubbed the Silent Hill Transmission, a new film in the Silent Hill franchise titled Return to Silent Hill was announced, along with several new games. Christophe Gans, who helmed the original 2006 Silent Hill film adaptation, will direct this newly announced sequel which is said to follow the events of the video game Silent Hill 2. Victor Hadida, who served as an executive producer on the first Silent Hill film, is set to produce Return to Silent Hill. Gans appeared in the livestream via a video message to speak about the upcoming film and its story, saying, “The film tells a story of a young guy coming back to Silent Hill, where he has known a great love. And what he is going to find is a pure nightmare.” The reveal of the film during the livestream also included visual concept art.
Months before this official announcement, Gans spoke about the possibility of a new Silent Hill film, saying, "The script for a new Silent Hill movie [is] totally independent from the two previous movies made and respects the way Silent Hill has evolved. Silent Hill is a bit like Twilight Zone, the Fourth Dimension, a place where anything and everything can happen. I worked on a new Silent Hill which is a Silent Hill of the year 2023 since the film would be released next year… in 2023… and not a Silent Hill as I imagined it in 2006."
Return to Silent Hill is said to be pure psychological horror, featuring new and familiar monsters alike, but with fan favorites like Pyramid Head receiving a modern update. Hadida also spoke during the livestream, declaring that the intention for the film is to "make it modern, but also very true to the video game." The first Silent Hill movie starred Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Jodelle Ferland, and Alice Krige and grossed over $100 million against a $50 million budget. A sequel, titled Silent Hill: Revelation, was released in 2012 and is considered to be far inferior to its predecessor by most fans. Hopefully, Return to Silent Hill will be the return to form the franchise needs to excel.
In addition to the announcement of Return to Silent Hill, several new games were also announced during the livestream. Among these video game titles is Silent Hill: Townfall, which is partially being developed by Annapurna Interactive, and Silent Hill: Ascension, which hails from Bad Robot Games. Additionally, prequel Silent Hill f, which will be set in 1960s Japan, was also announced, and all three games have received teaser trailers. A remake of the Silent Hill 2 video game was announced as well, and also has a teaser trailer. The Silent Hill video game franchise was created by video game director Keiichiro Toyama and started in 1999, consisting of eight games, not including the upcoming titles.
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates regarding Return to Silent Hill.