Years after announcing plans to adapt the hit horror game Dead by Daylight, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster have finally found the writers to help bring the video game to the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter revealed this week that David Leslie Johnson‑McGoldrick and Alexandre Aja are set to pen the Dead by Daylight movie.
“What David and Alexandre bring to Dead by Daylight is a rare balance of character driven storytelling and relentless genre intensity,” said Jason Blum, Blumhouse’s founder and CEO. “Drawing from survival horror and psychological terror, their work establishes a world where fear is not just experienced, but earned. It is a cinematic blueprint designed to attract a director who can elevate that vision through performance and scale.”
Both David Leslie Johnson‑McGoldrick and Alexandre Aja are highly respected figures in the horror industry. Johnson‑McGoldrick is best known for helping shape The Conjuring Universe, with writing credits on The Conjuring 2, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, and the upcoming The Conjuring: Last Rites. He also co‑wrote the thriller Orphan and has contributed to AMC’s hit series The Walking Dead.
Aja has extensive experience as both a writer and director. He gained international attention with High Tension (2003), which he co‑wrote and directed, and later directed the 2006 remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. His other notable horror films include Mirrors, Piranha 3D, and Crawl, showcasing his talent for intense, visceral storytelling.
While the two have never collaborated before, pairing them is a bold and exciting move for Blumhouse Productions and Atomic Monster. Johnson‑McGoldrick’s expertise in large-scale supernatural horror, combined with Aja’s visceral genre instincts, promises a compelling creative synergy for the Dead by Daylight adaptation.
Developed by Behaviour Interactive, Dead by Daylight is a multiplayer survival horror game that launched in 2016. It features an asymmetrical 4‑vs‑1 gameplay format, where one player assumes the role of a deadly Killer, while four others play as Survivors attempting to escape. The game originally included only original Killers, such as The Trapper, The Nurse, and The Huntress. Over time, however, it has expanded to feature licensed horror icons from major franchises, including Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Ghostface, and Pyramid Head.
“Alexandre and David are two modern masters of horror, and their script celebrates a dark distinction, Dead by Daylight is a game, its world is a nightmare,” added Stephen Mulrooney, producer and Behaviour’s chief product officer. “We look forward to working with a director who appreciates the depth of their story, and cannot wait to see their visceral vision brought to life."