Dead Rising Movie Sequel Coming This Year, Skips Theaters Again

2015's Dead Rising Watchtower, which skipped a theatrical release in favor of a streaming and video-on-demand debut, is getting a sequel. Legendary Digital Media, a division of the Godzilla and Warcraft film studio, has announced that production has begun in Vancouver on Dead Rising: Endgame. Like the first movie, Endgame will debut on Sony's streaming service Crackle, and is scheduled to come out this summer.

John Tucker Must Die's Jesse Metcalfe returns as Chase Carter, an investigative reporter who is sent to a zombie-infested quarantined zone of a city called East Mission. He's tasked with uncovering and putting a stop to a "secret government conspiracy," and you can expect this will involve killing lots of undead.

"With last year's success of Dead Rising: Watchtower, there was no question that Crackle viewers had an insatiable appetite for this popular and entertaining franchise," Cracke executive Eric Berger said in statement (via Variety). "We can't wait to deliver another great feature for this rabid and loyal audience."

Berger did not share any viewership numbers for Watchtower. This is not uncommon for video streaming platforms, as Netflix and Hulu also don't usually share this kind of data publicly.

Joining the cast for Endgame is Titanic star Billy Zane, who plays a "handsome, cruel" scientist named Rand. According to the plot description, he was hired by the government to find a cure for the zombie outbreak, but instead conducts experiments on those affected by it.

Watchtower also featured Rob Riggle as Frank West (he's covered wars, you know?), but it's unclear if he is returning for the sequel. Other returning cast members include 24's Denis Haysbert and Keegan Connor Tracy (Bates Motel). You can see the full list of new and returning cast members for Endgame at Variety.

Leprechaun Origins director Zach Lipovsky helmed the first movie, but he is replaced by Pat Williams (Cotinuum) for the sequel. It's being written by Watchtower writer Tim Carter and Michael Ferris (Terminator Salvation).

Some of Crackle's other original programming includes Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser and, most notably, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, which stars comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld.

Endgame isn't the only movie based on a video game coming out this year, as Warcraft debuts in June, followed by Assassin's Creed in December. Speaking this week at DICE, two Hollywood veterans explained why they think video game movies are usually bad and what can be done to make them better.