Miles Upshur’s journey through Mount Massive Asylum is coming to the big screen thanks to a partnership between Lionsgate and Outlast developer Red Barrels. Bloody Disgusting broke the news that the video game series is headed for the big screen, with longtime series writer JT Petty tapped to work on the screenplay. He isn’t alone in developing the adaptation. Horror veteran Roy Lee, whose other work includes It (2017) and Late Night With The Devil (2024), will join him on the production side.
Outlast‘s reputation is one of tense, heart-pounding atmospheric horror. The first game alone provides enough scares to fuel ten movies, but there’s more to making a film than raw creepiness. That’s nothing new for Lionsgate, the studio behind the James Wan and Leigh Wannel-created SAW franchise that has haunted audiences since 2004. Still, Lee knows exactly what the fans are looking for, and is ready to bring it to life in an entirely new way.
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“Its deep, emergent lore has provided a perfect foundation for creating a film that delves into the psychological and physical horrors at the core of the franchise,” Lee revealed in a statement.
Psychological and physical horror is an apt description. Influenced by movies like The Blair Witch Project and REC (and games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent) both Outlast and Outlast 2 feature grotesque and adrenaline-pumping set pieces. Violent psychiatric patients, unhinged cultists, and nightmare creatures haunting your every step are just a brief look at how the series has traumatized players over the years.
We don’t know how close the movie will stick to the classic story beats, but no matter what, this new format will retain all of the macabre spirit of the seminal spooky-time games. Red Barrels Co-founder David Chateauneuf chimed in on the development, delivering high praise for both Lionsgate and Lee.
“As die-hard fans of horror across every medium, at Red Barrels we are great admirers of Roy Lee’s and Lionsgate’s work,” he said. “Horror movies old and new have had an undeniable impact on our franchise over the years, and to now have the opportunity to work on an Outlast film with true horror legends is a dream, or should I say, nightmare, come true.”
A film isn’t the only bold new step for the franchise in recent memory. Last year’s Outlast Trials traded in the deeply isolating feeling of the early games for a subtler kind of collective dread. In that game, up to four players team up to survive the tasks set out for them by a deranged director of a Cold War-era medical facility. While there are more people to share in the misery, it still retained all of the grimy, paralyzing scares that made the first game a hit eleven years ago.
A new medium brings new challenges, but it won’t be shocking if the eventual Outlast movie brings all the same terrifying feelings fans have come to love.
Roy Lee is also a producer on the Minecraft Movie and the upcoming film adaptation of Until Dawn.