Deadline reports that Return to Silent Hill, the movie based on Silent Hill 2 being directed by Christophe Gans, has cast both of its leads. Jeremy Irvine (War Horse, Great Expectations, The Railway Man) will play James Sunderland, while Hannah Emily Anderson (Jigsaw, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, The Purge) will play Mary/Maria.
"Return to Silent Hill is a mythological love story about someone so deeply in love, they're willing to go to hell to save someone," said Gans, who directed the 2006 Silent Hill movie but was not involved with the 2012 sequel Silent Hill: Revelation. "I'm delighted to have the wonderful talents of both Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson take us on this journey into a psychological horror world that I hope will both satisfy and surprise fans of Silent Hill."
The movie is part of Konami's own return to Silent Hill, accompanying a raft of videogames: Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake, No Code's Silent Hill Townfall, and a prequel called Silent Hill F.
"Christophe and I have been working closely with our partners at Konami, as they update the videogame, to also create a version of Silent Hill for the theatrical audiences of today," said Return to Silent Hill producer Victor Hadida. "You will still find the iconic monsters—but there will also be new designs. We are confident that this new film and Konami's updated game together will propel the franchise forward for years to come."
Gans previously mentioned one of his main goals in Return to Silent Hill was finding a way to redesign Pyramid Head, who appeared in both previous movies. The overexposed executioner first introduced in Silent Hill 2 reappeared in various forms in Silent Hill Homecoming, Silent Hill: Book of Memories, Silent Hill: The Arcade, as well as Dead By Daylight, Dark Deception: Monsters & Mortals, Super Bomberman R, and even Krazy Kart Racing. You can understand why Gans might be eager to restore some of the character's mystique.
Earlier this month, Bloober revealed concept art of another Silent Hill 2 enemy who is being redesigned, showing a new illustration of the Bubble Head nurse. It was drawn by Masahiro Ito, a designer and artist on the original games who was responsible for many of the monster designs. Discussing the art, Ito said, "I made her wear the stockings w/ the color because I was pointed out that the original nurse in the orig SH2 exposed her skin too much and I wanted to mean 'this is a remake'. Also coz of a game design."
As to the nurse pic Bloober was released, it's one of the concept arts. I made her wear the stockings w/ the color because I was pointed out that the original nurse in the orig SH2 exposed her skin too much and I wanted to mean "this is a remake". Also coz of a game design. pic.twitter.com/ubUWfOSLysMarch 18, 2023
Though Hadida mentioned working closely with Konami, whether the redesigned versions of monsters in the movie will bear any resemblance to those of the remake remains to be seen. Return to Silent Hill begins filming in Germany and Eastern Europe in April.
