Sci-fi horror game spawns prequel movie

The film, being developed by Starz subsidiary Film Roman, will pick up at the end of a new comic book series of the same name and will lead to the start of the video game.

The six-issue comic book series was released earlier this month.

With the game's launch set for a Halloween, Film Roman President Scott Greenberg said the company is looking to release the animated film between mid-September and late October, initially as a TV special in multiple markets, followed by a home video release.

"We're really looking for this to be an event," Greenberg said. "We feel we'll attract the hard-core gamer, but we'll also get sci-fi and animation fans as well."

Greenberg said there will be two versions of the film--a softer one for TV and a harder one with more blood and coarser language for the DVD. Starz also is eyeing Web-based and wireless distribution.

Film Roman has been working for several years with Electronic Arts on projects tied to EA games.

"We felt this one was the best one to launch with," noted Greenberg, whose animation company is behind The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and the preschool hit Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!