Lollipop Chainsaw remake will be released in 2023

Lollipop Chainsaw, the cult 2012 game about a cheerleader battling zombies while her boyfriend’s disembodied head dangles from her waist, is being remade. Although the remake will be available in 2023 and no platform has been confirmed, it is expected to arrive on all platforms.

Yoshimi Yasuda, the producer of this news, shared it on Twitter. Yasuda said that he had bought back the rights from the game’s original Japanese publisher, Kadokawa Games, and that the “original development staff” were working on the remake. He also said that the game’s Western publisher Warner Bros. was supportive of the project. But his message did not mention the original development studio Grasshopper Manufacture or its founder, and the game’s co-director, Goichi Suda, known as Suda 51.

“Various factors resulted in things making it so that fans can no longer easily play Lollipop Chainsaw, and it has been some time since players have not been able to access the game on current consoles,” Yasuda said. “We, the original development staff … think of the game as very precious to us, and did not want to leave it in limbo.”

Yasuda noted that the game will have to be changed for its remake — particularly the 15 licensed songs on the soundtrack, which will largely be replaced. There will also be a “more realistic approach” to the game’s graphics. This might be controversial, as the original’s semi-cel-shaded look was part of its trashy charm.

The team could find that tastes and preferences have evolved since 2012. Although always tongue-in cheek, Lollipop Chainsaw — James Gunn co-wrote the script between releases of his films. Super Guardians of the Galaxy — had a leering attitude to its scantily-clad heroine that might not pass muster today. Polygon’s original review noted “rampant tonal problems and aggressive undercurrents of misogyny” that will be sure to draw renewed attention in the remake when it arrives next year.