Lollipop Chainsaw Gets Live-Action Film Set Before Original Game
Producers Kirk Shaw and Robert Franke aim to bring the franchise to worldwide audiences with a Hollywood film.
A live-action Lollipop Chainsaw film was announced at Tokyo Game Show on Saturday. Deadline reports that the project takes place before the original game and is planned as an R-rated action comedy.
The Lollipop Chainsaw franchise is getting a live-action film, announced Saturday during the livestreamed “Lollipop Chainsaw New Project” presentation at Tokyo Game Show (TGS).
Producers Kirk Shaw and Robert Franke said they intend to make a Hollywood film for worldwide audiences. Nada Holdings founder Joe Teng confirmed the live-action format and said the project is separate from the previously announced anime plans.
Deadline later reported that the film will take place before the original game’s events and is conceived as an R-rated action comedy. Its reported producers are:
- Kirk Shaw, an Ambitious Entertainment producer and associate producer on The Hurt Locker.
- Robert Franke, ZDF Studios’ former vice president of drama, whose credits include Concordia and Benidorm Is Murder.
- Joe Teng, founder of Nada Holdings.
- Takafumi Yūki, Throne Inc. managing director, whose credits include As One.
- Patricio Rabuffetti, president of Non Stop TV.
Earlier at TGS, Nada Holdings and Dragami Games announced Lollipop Chainsaw 2 Back2Back for PlayStation 5 in 2027.
The new game’s announced creative team includes:
- Hajime Tabata, director of Final Fantasy XV, directing the game with development by his company JP Universe.
- Masahiro Yuki, the original Lollipop Chainsaw writer, handling the story.
- NekoshowguN, the original game’s character designer, also participating.
Taiwan-based Nada Holdings announced in July 2025 that its partnership with Dragami Games would bring a new Lollipop Chainsaw game and an anime adaptation.
The company also said the new game would avoid creative restrictions it considers excessive in the name of DEI, meaning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. It did not explain how it would carry out that approach.
The original Lollipop Chainsaw, a zombie hack-and-slash game, arrived worldwide on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in June 2012. Grasshopper Manufacture developed it, while Kadokawa Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment published it. Gōichi Suda (Suda51) collaborated with filmmaker James Gunn on the game.
In July 2022, Yoshimi Yasuda posted an English and Japanese message on X/Twitter saying his company had bought the IP from Kadokawa Games after the game’s status became uncertain. Yasuda, formerly Kadokawa Games’ CEO and now Dragami Games’ CEO, added that Warner Bros. supported the effort.
Kadokawa Games transferred part of its business to the newly formed Dragami Games in May 2022. Yasuda, then Kadokawa Games’ president and CEO, established Dragami Games that month with company director Satoshi Fuyuno.
Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP, a remaster of the original, launched digitally in the Americas and Europe in September 2024 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC through Steam. Its Switch 2 version followed on May 28 earlier this year.
Source: ANN
