Back in 2010, Universal Pictures won the bidding war for the film rights to the Electronic Arts version of Dante’s Inferno, but not much of anything had been heard about the project since. Now, three years later, it looks like the studio has finally found its director, with Evil Dead helmer Fede Alvarez in negotiations to direct.
This film will be based on the video game version of the story, which was adapted from the first part of Dante Alighieri’s 14th-century epic poem known as The Divine Comedy. In the video game version, Dante is re-imagined as a Templar knight and has to journey through the nine circles of hell. His goal is reclaiming the soul of his love, Beatrice, from the hands of Lucifer.
Alvarez has also been rumored for the Doctor Strange film. While this project doesn’t necessarily take him out of consideration for that movie, especially since a date still hasn’t been set, it does make that seem less likely. That being said, I’m quite excited Alvarez is the one taking this on. I think the only director who could possibly be better suited to do this project would be Guillermo del Toro, but I have zero complaints with choosing Alvarez. What he did with re-imagining the Evil Dead franchise was brilliant, and his showed that he’s an expert when it comes to creating believable horror. That should translate quite well to a film set in hell.
Bruce McKenna wrote the original draft for this film, but the most recent version was penned by Jay Basu. Eric Newman and Marc Abraham will produce along with Patrick O’Brien, who serves is VP at EA Entertainment. VP of production Anikah McLaren and creative executive Sara Scott will oversee the project for Universal.
What do you think of the Dante’s Inferno film? Are you excited Alvarez is at the helm or would you rather another director take the project on? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.