Last year, film director Julian Terry got creative during the quarantine with his short film Don’t Peek, which debuted in October 2020. The film depicts a young woman playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons late at night on her undocked Nintendo Switch, when she suddenly notices that her in-game actions are affecting her real-life surroundings.
Gathering other 1.3 million views on YouTube and appearing at the SXSW Online film festival, the short has gained lots of attention, including that of Wanted and Hardcore Henry director Timur Bekmambetov. According to Deadline, Bekmambetov will be creating a feature-length film based on Don’t Peek, with Majd Nassif producing Pavel Bozhkov as a creative executive.
I just wanted to have the best @animalcrossing island, now I have to worry about staying alive. Game on, @julianjterry. https://t.co/N56h8twoi0
— Timur Bekmambetov (@Bekmambetov) March 17, 2021
If you haven’t yet seen the spooky seven-minute flick, you can check it out below — just don’t blame us if you end up avoiding all contact with your Nintendo Switch for the following week.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the full feature film is unlikely to spotlight Animal Crossing: New Horizons (we can’t imagine Nintendo would be eager to promote their family-friendly title through a horror flick). Terry says in a YouTube comment, “It’s not an Animal Crossing feature. We know we can’t legally get away with that. The story is actually something else entirely and taps into the nostalgia of video games. I can’t wait for you all to see it!”
Terry also recently thanked viewers of Don’t Peek for helping make it a hit.
The secret is out! We are turning DON’T PEEK into a feature!!! Thank you so much to everyone who helped make it go viral! https://t.co/TYP7Ybx36F
— Julian Terry (@julianjterry) March 17, 2021
Video game-based movies certainly seem to be prominent in the industry of late, with films based on Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, and The Witcher — as well as a sequel to last year’s Sonic the Hedgehog — all currently in the works.
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Written by Reece Heather
A veteran Zelda Universe editor and First-class journalism graduate, Reece emerged with a Nintendo 64 and a lifelong obsession after a narrow escape from Santa’s Naughty List in 1998. Outside of games, he’s reading Punisher comics, being bossed around by his cocker spaniel, and cornering innocent bystanders to rant about the importance of game preservation.
