"Walking Dead" and "Silent Hill" coming to Halloween Horror Nights

Photo by Gene Page/AMC

UPDATED (7/16): The official announcement of a “Silent Hill” maze came on Saturday… no official word on a “Walking Dead” Halloween attraction yet. See below for details.

Looks like there’s a chance that interactive “Walking Dead” maze at Comic-Con could be coming to Los Angeles. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Universal will be making an official announcement today that both Orlando and Hollywood’s Universal theme parks will be using both “The Walking Dead” and video game/film property “Silent Hill” at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights.”

Deadline doesn’t provide more on if these properties will be used as walk thru mazes, scare zones, staged shows, or something new. However, the big new trend in Halloween attractions appears to be the addition of interactive elements, sometimes as a ticket upgrade, that breaks the oft held “don’t touch the monsters and the won’t touch you rule.”

In Los Angeles, last year’s breakout Halloween hit “Delusion” used this device on a small level, but the idea has been fully embraced at Comic-Con itself, where for $75 the living can try to make their way through a zombie infested Petco Park at “Walking Dead Escape,” an obstacle course infested with zombies. Whether it’s Los Angeles bound or not is pure speculation at this point… we’ll update as we hear more about this and additional new mazes at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoPOMcZx7xA[/youtube]

The official “Silent Hill” announcement video that debuted on Saturday at Comic-Con.

On Monday morning (July 17), Universal Studios also widely distributed this press release:

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS BRINGING TO LIFE THE TWISTED WORLD OF “SILENT HILL” AT HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS EVENTS

Partnership Marks the First Time A Highly-Acclaimed Video Game Franchise Will Become a Haunted Maze at Nation’s Best Halloween Events

ORLANDO, Fla., UNIVERSAL CITY, Ca. (July 16, 2012) — This fall, the demented multiverse of the popular horror video game and motion picture franchise, Silent Hill, will come to life in a haunted maze at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights events.

This is not a game. This is not a movie. This is real. And guests will be tormented by horrifying creatures from an alternate dimension, including the iconic deformed nurses and the executioner.

Konami’s ground-breaking Silent Hill series is heralded for its psychologically-charged, horrific plot, which is centered around the disturbing, ash-covered town of Silent Hill – a place where reality gives way to other dimensions. In this demonic world the physical laws of nature no longer apply and nightmarish monsters abound. Characters try to escape back to the safety of reality but constant brutal attacks by disjointed, knife-wielding beings make survival seem impossible.

Silent Hill has sold more than seven million video game copies worldwide, earning more than $100 million at the box office with the first film, “Silent Hill,” and spawning a hit comic book series and graphic novels.

The highly-anticipated sequel to the original film, “Silent Hill: Revelation 3D” from producer Samuel Hadida and his company Davis Films will be released nationwide on October 26 – just in time for Halloween – by Open Road Films. The film is directed by Michael J. Bassett (Solomon Kane, Deathwatch), and features original cast members Sean Bean (HBO’s Game Of Thrones, Lord Of The Rings) and Deborah Kara Unger (The Game, 88 minutes, The Samaritan) return in SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D, starring along with rising stars Adelaide Clemens (X-Men Origins, upcoming The Great Gatsby, No One Lives) and Kit Harington (HBO’s Game Of Thrones) as well as Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix, Disturbia, NBC’s Chuck) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, The Artist).

Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights events have a more than 20-year history of creating incredibly entertaining, horrifying Halloween experiences that are consistently rated the nation’s best. The events on each coast feature highly-themed, disturbingly real, haunted mazes based on everything from film to nightmares — and streets filled with hundreds of specially trained “scareactors.”

“Silent Hill has terrified fans for over a decade by pioneering psychological horror genre first through video games and moving into films and graphic novels,” said Careen Yapp, Vice President Acquisitions and Franchise Development of Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. “Now we’re giving fans the next evolution of terror as we work with the Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights teams to create a real world Silent Hill experience just as terrifying as the fans have come to expect.”

“We are thrilled to be working with our friends at Universal to bring the horror of Silent Hill to this next level of reality,” said film producer Samuel Hadida. “For newcomers and long time followers alike, there could be no better introduction to the terror that will await them in theatres on October 26 when we launch SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D onto the world.”

“This is our first partnership with a video game property and we are very excited to create an unparalleled, all-new level of horror for our guests,” said Jim Timon, Senior Vice President of Entertainment at Universal Orlando Resort. “We can’t wait to watch our guests actually walk into the hell that is Silent Hill.”

“Creating a realistic three-dimensional world based on the disturbing Silent Hill video games and films elevates Halloween Horror Nights to the next generation of twisted entertainment. Its incredibly imaginative and highly unsettling characters and environments make it the ideal fit for our event where the property can continue its reign of terror and fully immerse guests in its psychological horror,” said John Murdy, Creative Director for Universal Studios Hollywood.

For more information about Halloween Horror Nights at both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com. Watch the Silent Hill announcement video on both Universal Orlando Resort’s YouTube Channel and on Universal Studio’s Hollywood’s YouTube Channel.

For the latest info on SILENT HILL: REVELATION 3D, follow @silenthillmovie on Twitter and “Like” the film on Facebook at: facebook.com/silenthillrevelation

For more information about the SILENT HILL franchise, including screenshots of the upcoming Silent Hill Book of Memories, please log on to www.konami.com/silenthill.

Universal Orlando Resort: There are many ways to enjoy your Orlando vacation, but there is only one place where vacation becomes adventure: Universal Orlando Resort. It is a unique destination featuring two theme parks, three magnificently themed on-site hotels and a nighttime entertainment complex. It’s the only Orlando destination where you are not just entertained – you become part of the most exhilarating entertainment ever created. You can soar above Hogwarts with Harry Potter, swing above the streets with Spider-Man, be transformed into a banana-loving minion in the hilarious and heartwarming Despicable Me Minion Mayhem ride and help Shrek save Princess Fiona in Shrek 4-D.

Universal Orlando Resort is an NBCUniversal company.

Universal Studios HollywoodSM, The Entertainment Capital of L.A., includes a full-day, movie-based theme park and Studio Tour; the CityWalk entertainment, shopping and dining complex, the Universal CityWalk Cinemas, the “5 Towers” state-of-the-art outdoor concert venue, and the Gibson Amphitheatre concert and special event arena. World-class rides and attractions include the intense, award-winning ride, “King Kong 360 3-D” on the famed behind-the-scenes Studio Tour, “The Simpsons RideTM,” “Revenge of the MummySM —The Ride” indoor roller coaster and “Jurassic Park® —The Ride,” as well as the critically-acclaimed new thrill ride and mega-attraction, “Transformers™: The Ride—3D.” Universal CityWalk features a selection entertainment-themed restaurants, nightclubs, shops and dynamic entertainment options, including a new, next generation, state-of-the-art “5 Towers” outdoor concert venue.

Open Road Films: Founded in 2011 by AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMC) and Regal Entertainment Group (Regal), the two largest theatrical exhibition and entertainment companies in the United States, Open Road Films is a dynamic, acquisition-based domestic theatrical distribution company. Open Road Films’ first releases were Killer Elite, the action-thriller starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro and The Grey, the action thriller starring Liam Neeson and directed by Joe Carnahan, which opened to number one at the box office in January 2012 and has taken in over $50 million to date. Upcoming releases include: Hit And Run, an ensemble comedy written, produced, directed by and starring Dax Shepard, as well as Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold and more, to be released August 24, 2012; End Of Watch, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña, and written and directed by David Ayer to be released September 28, 2012: Silent Hill: Revelation 3D based on the ground-breaking video game franchise to be released October 26, 2012; Bitter Pill, a thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh starring Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law and Catherine Zeta-Jones to be released February 8, 2013; The Host, based on Twilight series author Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling book, starring Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Diane Kruger and William Hurt, and directed by Andrew Niccol, scheduled for release on March 29, 2013. More info on Open Road Films at: www.openroadfilms.com, www.facebook.com/OpenRoadFilms and @OpenRoadFilms.
Silent Hill Franchise: Featuring an unparalleled horror-experience that’s often mimicked but never duplicated, KONAMI’s Silent Hill franchise has captivated fans for more than a decade selling over 7 Million copies worldwide. Silent Hill: Downpour, the eighth installment in the Silent Hill series has just been released by Konami worldwide. Silent Hill transcends media platforms being a hit comic book series, numerous soundtracks from rock icons like KORN and a favorite of fright film aficionados with the Silent Hill movie in 2006 and the upcoming sequel, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D starring Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Sean Bean, Carrie-Ann Moss and Malcolm McDowell.
Konami Group: Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. is a leading developer, publisher and manufacturer of electronic entertainment properties. Konami’s titles include the popular franchises Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Dance Dance Revolution and Castlevania, among other top sellers. The latest information about Konami can be found on the Web at www.konami.com. KONAMI CORPORATION is a publicly traded company based in Tokyo, Japan with subsidiary offices, Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. in the United States and Konami Digital Entertainment GmbH in Frankfurt, Germany. KONAMI CORPORATION is traded in the United States on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol KNM. Details of the products published by Konami can be found at http://www.konami.com.
Davis Films: Davis Films, based in Paris and Los Angeles, is one of the world’s leading independent production companies and has been directly involved in the production of over forty feature films. Along with leading French distributor Metropolitan Film Export, Davis Films is owned and managed by Samuel and Victor Hadida. Hadida’s first production was Tony Scott’s True Romance, which was based on a script by Quentin Tarantino. Davis is also known for its successful adaptations of Japanese media, including Crying Freeman, with Christophe Gans directing, the Resident Evil franchise, and Silent Hill, a #1 picture at the box office when released by Sony and also directed by Gans. Davis Films’ production credits additionally include Tony Scott’s Domino, George Clooney’s Good Night, and Good Luck, Christophe Gans ‘s Brotherhood of The Wolf, Roger Avary’s The Rules of Attraction, Killing Zoe, David Cronenberg’s Spider, Terry Gilliam’s Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus and the Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane and Lasse Hallstrom’s Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.