Lollipop Chainsaw heads to cinemas as live-action prequel
Juliet Starling is taking her chainsaw from consoles to cinemas.
A live-action feature film based on the cult Japanese video game Lollipop Chainsaw is in development, as reported by Deadline. Live-action means real actors on screen rather than animation. The project was unveiled at the Tokyo Game Show.
The film is planned as an R-rated action comedy. R-rated is the United States age classification that restricts audiences under 17 without a parent or guardian. It will work as a prequel, set before the events of the original game, so newcomers can come in cold.
The story centres on Juliet Starling. She is a cheerleader at the fictional San Romero High School, born into a family of zombie hunters. Then the dead rise. When a zombie outbreak hits her school, Juliet fights to save her friends and family and to protect her boyfriend, Nick.
The film is being made under licence from Dragami Games, the company that controls the rights to the property. Producers and executives named to the project so far include Joe Teng of Nada Holdings, Robert Franke of Orange Chariot, Takafumi Yuki of Throne Inc, Kirk Shaw of Ambitious Entertainment and Patricio Rabuffetti of Non Stop TV, according to Deadline. No cast, director or release date has been announced.
The original Lollipop Chainsaw was released in 2012 and has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide, according to Deadline. A remastered edition titled Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP has since been released for modern systems. Nada Holdings and Dragami Games had already joined forces in July 2025 to develop new projects around the title, according to NADA Holdings.
What makes this stand out is the starting point. Many game adaptations continue a known story. By beginning earlier, this one can reintroduce Juliet and her world from scratch.
