Image: Kadokawa Games
The cult zombie hack-and-slash game from 2012 is getting a remake, with new visuals but a very different soundtrack.
10 years after its release in 2012, Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a remake. The hack-and-slash cult game centered on a cheerleader named Juliet in the post-apocalypse, as she dismembers zombies aplenty with gleeful abandon. Her boyfriend Nick accompanies her on this adventure, in the form of a decapitated head tied to her waist.
The remake’s producer Yoshimi Yasuda took to Twitter to announce the remake:
The message reads that Yasuda has successfully managed to get his hands on the rights to Lollipop Chainsaw from the game’s publisher Kadokawa Games, and most of the original staff who worked on the game will return for the remake. The remake is also moving ahead with the support of Warner Bros. Games, who published the game in the west - and also, back in the day, brought in film director James Gunn of The Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad fame to rewrite its script.
Gunn had celebrated the game’s 10-year anniversary in June, but confirmed that he currently isn’t involved in the remake’s production. Neither is game developer Suda51, who directed the game along with Tomo Ikeda:
According to Yasuda, the main reason this remake is happening is because fans no longer have an easy way to play Lollipop Chainsaw on modern consoles. The development team, “thinks of the game as very precious," and, “did not want to leave it in limbo, where players who want to play it cannot."
There will be a few key differences in the remake, however. Yasuda mentioned that most of the original soundtrack will have to be replaced, likely due to copyright entanglements. A few licensed tracks will remain - I can’t see The Chordettes’ Lollipop being absent in the remake - but the rest of the soundtrack will consist of new music. The remake will also take a, “more realistic approach,” to the game’s visuals thanks to the developers' access to modern consoles.
This might not mean that the game’s cel-shaded visuals are going away necessarily, but we’ll have to wait and see. Lollipop Chainsaw has always been an outrageous and incredibly campy videogame, but its gameplay might need a touch-up as well if it’s going to launch on modern consoles and not fall flat on its face. Currently, the remake does not have a firm release date on any confirmed platforms, but expect more news to come over the next year.