‘Dante’s Inferno’ Movie Lands ‘Evil Dead’ Director

The proposed Dante’s Inferno movie is coming to the big screen courtesy of Evil Dead remake director Fede Alvarez.

The folks at Universal Pictures are serious about bringing a cinematic adaptation Electronic Arts video game to life. In order to make that happen, the studio has tapped Alvarez to helm the project.

Since the video game publisher has a stake in this production, EA Entertainment vice president Patrick O’Brien will serve as producer on the Dante’s Inferno movie. According to Deadline, Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are serving as producers on the flick as well.

The EA video game was loosely inspired by the work of Dante Alighieri. The story finds Dante heading into the depths of Hell to find the soul of his lost love. Along the way, our hero will have to contend with an array of evil creatures and villains.

IGN reports that The Pacific screenwriter Bruce McKenna previously hammered out a script for the Dante’s Inferno movie. However, Universal reportedly hired The Dinosaur Project scribe Jay Basu to provide a new version of the story.

Alvarez’s involvement with the movie suggests that Universal wants a very dark and visceral version of this tale. The filmmaker’s Evil Dead remake gave moviegoers a lot of blood and guts, elements the director could bring to Dante’s Inferno.

This isn’t the only movie based on an Electronic Arts title that’s presently in the works. DreamWorks Pictures’ adaptation of the Need for Speed games should arrive in theaters across North America on March 14, 2014.

While the studio seems committed to developing the flick, a release date for the adaptation isn’t available as of this writing. Since the movie doesn’t have a script to speak of just yet, the film may not arrive in theaters until 2015.

Are you looking forward to the Dante’s Inferno movie? Do you think Evil Dead director Fede Alvarez is the right person to direct the project?

[Image via Electronic Arts]