ZQ Entertainment, Prime Universe Films, and Longevity Pictures have acquired the rights to adapt the survival horror game Tormented Souls for the screen. The production team intends to expand the universe created by developer Dual Effect and publisher PQube into both film and television formats.
ZQ Entertainment and Prime Universe Films secure the rights
According to Deadline , ZQ Entertainment will handle the financing for development and co-finance the production of the Tormented Souls adaptation. The project is being steered by a production team that includes Ara Keshishian and Petr Jakl, alongside Majd Nassif of Longevity Pictures and Adrian Askarieh, the president of Prime Universe Films.
The adaptation also maintains a strong link to the original creators. Gabriel Araneda Quijada and Germán Araneda Quijada from Dual Effect are serving as executive producers, while Josh Wexler of Pure Imagination Studios joins the executive team. In a joint statement, Keshishian and Jakl noted their intention to deliver a cinematic experience that honors the elements fans love about the original interactive experience.
Caroline Walker's 1994 nightmare in a derelict hospital
The source material for the adaptation is a survival horror title first released on Steam in 2021, later expanding to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. the narrative follows Caroline Walker, a Canadian woman who travels to an abandoned mental hospital in 1994 to investigate the disappearance of twin girls linked to a mysterious photograph.
The plot provides a visceral hook for a horror film: upon arriving at the hospital, Caroline Walker is knocked unconscious and has her right eye surgically removed. As reported, the story requires the protagonist to battle supernatural forces and humanoid monsters while solving puzzles to expose the facility's dark secrets. This atmospheric tension helped the first game find success, leading to the release of Tormented Souls 2 in 2025.
Adrian Askarieh's history with the Hitman franchise
The production brings a veteran of video game adaptations to the table in Adrian Askarieh. Askarieh previously produced the 2007 film Hitman and the 2015 follow-up Hitman: Agent 47, suggesting the team has a blueprint for translating game mechanics into narrative cinema.
However, the path to screen is not always linear for Prime Universe Films. The company previously attempted a film adaptation of Just Cause in the late 2010s that failed to materialize, though that property is now seeing a fresh attempt under director Ángel Manuel Soto. Askarieh believes Tormented Souls is the ideal type of intellectual property for the current market,specifically citing its growth from indie roots to a global audience.
Joining the ranks of Resident Evil and The Last of Us
The Tormented Souls project enters a crowded but lucrative market of gaming adaptations. It joins a lineage of recent horror successes such as Five Nights at Freddy's, Until Dawn, and the various Resident Evil iterations across film and Netflix, as well as HBO's critically acclaimed The Last of Us.
This trend shows no signs of slowing down, as the industry prepares a slate of high-profile adaptations. Upcoming projects include films based on Elden Ring, Call of Duty, and Helldivers, while television adaptations for Mass Effect, Baldur's Gate, and Persona are in development. the shift reflects a broader industry strategy of leveraging established, passionate fan bases to mitigate the risks of high-budget entertainment production.
Whether the project is a movie, a series, or both
Despite the announcement of the rights acquisition, a critical detail remains unconfirmed: the exact format of the release. It is currently unclear if ZQ Entertainment and its partners intend to produce a standalone feature film, a multi-episode television series, or both concurrently.
Furthermore, while the producers have expressed their vision, the report does not specify a casting timeline or a projected release date. The production is currently in the early stages of development, leaving the specific creative direction of the 1994 hospital setting open to interpretation.
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