The Long Dark

(Cumberland, BC. Monday, July 31st, 2017)

Hinterland today announced a co-production partnership with Jeremy Bolt, Resident Evil Producer. The collaboration between Hinterland and Bolt will be a feature film live-action adaptation of Hinterland’s hit wintery survival adventure, THE LONG DARK, a fan-favourite that had already sold 1.3M copies prior to launching on August 1st, 2017.

“My goal with Hinterland – starting with THE LONG DARK — has always been to create original entertainment properties that could span multiple mediums, exploiting the storytelling potential of each form” said Raphael van Lierop, founder and creative director at Hinterland. “Partnering with Jeremy on this project is the first step in achieving that vision of true cross-platform storytelling in the world of THE LONG DARK.”

THE LONG DARK tells the story of bush pilot Will Mackenzie and Dr. Astrid Greenwood, who become lost in the Northern Canadian wilderness in the aftermath of a geomagnetic disaster. In searching for each other, Mackenzie and Astrid come to terms with the unexpected ways the world around them has changed due to the presence of mysterious aurorae in the sky. It is a post-apocalyptic story with a Canadian twist, and echoes the themes and tone of films like The Road, or television like The Walking Dead.

“I first reached out to Raphael, as a fan of THE LONG DARK” explains Bolt. “I was immediately taken by the game’s stunningly immersive landscapes, eerily solitary and realistic nature; it is an existential tale of moral, emotional and physical endurance with strong characters to build on; it is also a mystery. It is an honor to try to do justice to it on film.”

To illustrate this vision for how THE LONG DARK will make the transition to live-action, Hinterland has produced a five-minute short film, Elegy, directed by Jared Pelletier, performed by Oscar-winning actor Christopher Plummer, and written by van Lierop.

“I describe Elegy as a visual poem”, says van Lierop, who also executive produced the short. “Jared’s passion for the source material is evident — he really connected with THE LONG DARK’s artistic sensibilities, and the game’s unique sense of identity within its own fiction. I think Elegy stands as an example of the level of quality and the overall tone I’d like to deliver in THE LONG DARK film.

Elegy can be seen here.