The name Suda 51 should be synonymous with gamers everywhere. This guy has worked on everything offbeat in the game industry. Some of his games include the under-appreciated Capcom classic, Killer 7, the enjoyable No More Heroes games (the original is actually releasing on PS3 this month from Konami), and most recently, EA’s Shadows of the Damned, in which he teamed up with Resident Evil’s Shinji Mikami and music composer Akira Yakaoma from Silent Hill fame.
His latest project, Lollipop Chainsaw, has an even more interesting collaborator behind it. Along with the returning Yakaoma—who will be supplying music for the game—Suda 51 is teaming up with James Gunn—the man who wrote the current remake of Dawn of the Dead—while also directing such projects as PG Porn, Slither, and the Rainn Wilson/Ellen Page superhero caper Super.
James recently spoke of his involvement with the Lollipop Chainsaw project on his blog, located at (where else) www.jamesgunn.com. These excerpts are taken straight from his blog:
“About a year ago, Warner Bros. came to me and asked me if I wanted to be involved with a video game, Lollipop Chainsaw, being developed by the great Goichi Suda AKA Suda 51 and Grasshopper. They showed me some test footage of the chainsaw-wielding high school cheerleader and I was blown away by its mix of graphics violence, fun an glittery goodness. Right away, I signed on, and helped them to develop a story, dialogue and characters with James Gunn style and humor while keeping that Suda 51/Grasshopper no-holds barred edge.” Sounds like a dream combination to us.
Gunn fleshed out his role on the project. He’s not a translator for the English version by any means, but rather a contributor to the project as a whole. He’s working alongside Suda and his scriptwriters to give Lollipop Chainsaw and its star, Juliet Starling, that cult-like edge that made Buffy the Vampire Slayer so appealing all those years ago. Granted, this cheerleader is hunting zombies instead of vampires, but you get the idea. “The Japanese version has my imprint as well,” stated Gunn. He also contributed to character development.
Here’s where things get interesting. Gunn admitted on his blog that, while creating some of the characters he had in mind, he managed to get a hold of some of the talent that worked with him in past film and Internet projects to voice characters in the game. Though he didn’t name any names, we can certainly speculate everyone from Nathan Fillion to Rainn Wilson. It’ll be interesting to see how the final casting shapes up.
As for Lollipop Chainsaw itself, Gunn explained the plot. “Lollipop Chainsaw is the story of young, beautiful zombie-killer Juliet Starling, her sidekick disembodied-head boyfriend, and the entire Starling family of zombie killers as they team up to stop a colossal zombie outbreak. Leading the zombies are a group of zombie rock and roll lords who do battle with Juliet.” Yep, that sounds like joyous fun to us, especially if it has any sort of carnage level on the same tier as No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned.
Gunn concluded, “The game is complete madness, and I love it. Lollipop Chainsaw will be here in the U.S. on Xbox (360) and PS3 within the next year.” We’re certainly looking forward to it. Be sure to check back for more information soon, as well as a preview. In the meantime, ogle these screens with care, and don’t forget to read up on Gunn’s other happenings. His latest film, Super, hits Blu-Ray and DVD next week…and, of course, it’s super.
