"If you believe in a god, gentlemen, start praying to him." Watch the story of man hunting man in the first trailer for The Most Dangerous Game. The film is co-produced by North American home entertainment firm Mill Creek Entertainment, marking their first co-produced scripted feature-length film. The trailer for the film can be found below:
The Most Dangerous Game stars Chris 'C.T.' Tamburello, known for MTV's The Challenge, before starring in the T.V. movie Habitual. Joining him are Casper Van Dien (Starship Troopers), Judd Nelson (The Breakfast Club), Tom Berenger (Inception, Platoon), Bruce Dern (Nebraska), and Elissa Dowling (Girl on the Third Floor). The official synopsis for the film reads:
A father and son are shipwrecked on a remote island where they are caught up in a trophy hunt held by its mysterious owner, a merciless man who uses the land as an elite hunting preserve for stalking the most dangerous game of all: human.
Casper Van Dien will play the ruthless host, Baron Von Wolf, hunting Tamburello, who plays Sanger Rainsford. Berenger will take on a role that was not in the source material, as he appears to be a man who has been hiding out on the island, avoiding Von Wolf, and slowly losing his sanity. Justin Lee is helming the film, known for Final Kill, Badland, and Big Legend. His previous work has not been received well by audiences; however, with a larger budget and more suitable talent attached to The Most Dangerous Game, this is the chance Lee has been waiting for.
Koenig Pictures is producing the film alongside Quiet On Set, Charach Productions, and Greenfield Media, according to reports from Deadline. The Most Dangerous Game releases in select theaters and is on-demand later this summer, Aug. 5th.
This Isn't the First Attempt at an Adaptation for The Most Dangerous Game
The Most Dangerous Game was initially a short story written by Richard Connell and published on Jan. 19th, 1924. The story follows a New York City big-game hunter who falls off his ship, eventually reaching an island where he is hunted by the Russian aristocrat who prefers to pursue the most challenging game of all. It's regarded as one of the most popular short stories ever written in English and entered the public domain in the United States in 2020.
The most notable adaptation of the short story is the 1932 RKO Pictures film of the same name. The movie starred Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, and Leslie Banks. The Most Dangerous Game was received positively amongst audiences, with critics calling it the birth of the survival/horror sub-genre. The film was primarily authentic to the source material; however, a romantic interest was added to the movie to lengthen the story.
In 2020, a very different adaptation was brought to the small screen on the short-lived streaming service, Quibi. Most Dangerous Game, which starred Liam Hemsworth and Christoph Waltz, had all the talent capable of recreating an excellent adaptation; however, the eight-minute runtimes per episode and drastic change from the source material left audiences unimpressed.
The upcoming film has already made specific changes to the original's plot, including the father and son arriving on the island and critical characters' names changing for seemingly little reason. However, the trailer presents an authentic look at the original short story. Audiences won't have to wait much longer to see how the latest adaptation performs, so check your local theaters on Aug. 5th to see if The Most Dangerous Game is playing near you.