Konami’s revival of the Silent Hill film franchise starts filming in April with original Silent Hill movie director Christophe Gans at the helm, Deadline reports. And in a this-is-actually-happening update on the movie, which is titled Return to Silent Hill, the lead actors who will portray protagonist James Sunderland and love interest(s) Mary (and Maria) have been announced.
According to Deadline, Jeremy Irvine (War Horse, Treadstone) and Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw, The Purge TV series) will star respectively as James and “his one true love” — meaning Anderson would portray both James’ wife Mary Shepherd-Sunderland and her mysterious doppelganger Maria.
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Return to Silent Hill’s script closely follows the plot of the 2001 game Silent Hill 2, in which James receives a letter from his late wife beckoning him to return to the titular town. As he searches for Mary, he discovers that Silent Hill has been consumed by a thick fog and overtaken by monsters. The game also features the first appearance of the character Pyramid Head, which has become a core character for the franchise, despite its close associations with James as a character. Konami is currently remaking Silent Hill 2 for modern platforms with external developer Bloober Team.
Gans directed the original 2006 Silent Hill movie, which itself was a loose adaptation of Konami’s first game. He did not return for the 2012 sequel, Silent Hill: Revelation.
Konami announced a slew of projects in 2022 alongside confirmation of a new Silent Hill movie. The publisher’s lineup includes the aforementioned Silent Hill 2 remake, a brand-new entry named Silent Hill f, a collaboration with Annapurna Interactive called Silent Hill: Townfall, and “a massively interactive live event” co-developed with Bad Robot, Silent Hill: Ascension.