Dead by Daylight Movie Taps Thordur Palsson to Direct
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Thordur Palsson was announced Sunday as director of the Dead by Daylight horror film at a sold-out, one-day 10th anniversary event in Montreal for the multiplayer game.
- Blumhouse Atomic Monster founders Jason Blum and James Wan are producing with Behaviour Interactive's Stephen Mulrooney; executive producers include Remi Racine, Michael Clear, Judson Scott, Ryan Turek, and Russell Binder.
- James Wan said "one million people step into Dead by Daylight daily," framing the adaptation as an extension of the world players already love, "from Greenville to The MacMillan Estate."
- Jason Blum called the 10th anniversary "no better moment" to share the news, calling Palsson "the filmmaker we trust to carry Dead by Daylight from the screen you play on to the big screen you watch in theaters."
- Behaviour's Mulrooney praised Palsson's "distinct vision, atmospheric storytelling and ability to build tension," citing his fit to "bring our universe to life" for longtime fans and new audiences alike.
- Palsson created Iceland's first Netflix Original series The Valhalla Murders in 2020, and his debut feature The Damned premiered at Tribeca and was released in the US last year.
- The Dead by Daylight game casts one player as a Killer hunting four Survivors, who must repair generators to power exit gates and avoid being sacrificed to a force called the Entity.
Why it matters: Behaviour Interactive and Blumhouse are producing a film adaptation of a 10-year-old game that James Wan says has one million daily players. Palsson's horror track record on The Damned and Behaviour's seat as producer give the project both a tonal fit and an IP-accurate foundation that the source presents as the project's main creative safeguards.
