•• Following its release on Crackle’s streaming service back in March, live action video game adaptation Dead Rising: Watchtower is heading to VOD in International markets this July. Check out the trailer below:

Dead Rising: Watchtower follows Chase Carter (Jesse Metcalfe), a reporter trying to make it big – but the pursuit of his career-defining story leads him into the heart of a zombie-infested warzone. East Mission, Oregon is locked down after police find the bodies of what appear to be victims of a zombie attack. Zombies are not a new phenomenon, but outbreaks are uncommon. Past incidents were only just contained in time and the country is nervous. When two ambitious Net 2.0 reporters, Chase and his colleague Jordan, get inside the quarantine zone to report on a large group of civilians trapped in an inner city dome stadium, they realise they’re waiting for a rescue that isn’t coming. Many of those abandoned inside are survivors of past outbreaks who carry the zombie virus in their blood. They only survive by taking the antidote once every 24 hours — a drug called Zombrex. When the local drug supply mysteriously fails, a small crisis explodes into mass panic and catastrophe.

The story unfolds from two perspectives: survivors inside the city and officials and the media on the outside. Unlike virtually all other zombie narratives, the world hasn’t ended. The outbreak is a large-scale natural disaster that the rest of the world watches on TV. After Jordan manages to escape the quarantine zone, she sets out to unravel the conspiracy behind the failed Zombrex, while Chase is trapped inside with a few others like tough loner with a secret Crystal (Meghan Ory) and grief-stricken mother Maggie (Virginia Madsen), battling
to survive. Their perilous, action-packed journey to escape simultaneously forces them to question what they’re willing to do to survive and, ultimately, their own sense of humanity.

Dead Rising: Watchtower will be available for download on July 1st and is directed by Zach Lipovsky (Leprechaun: Origins) and written by Tim Carter (Mortal Kombat: Legacy), with a cast that includes Jesse Metcalfe (John Tucker Must Die), Meghan Ory (Once Upon a Time), Virginia Madsen (Candyman), Dennis Haysbert (24) and Rob Riggle (22 Jump Street).

•• Crackle has teamed up with Legendary Digital Media to announce the arrival of Dead Rising: Watchtower free to stream on Crackle. The full length film is based on the Dead Rising series of the same name and stars Jesse Metcalfe, Dennis Haysbert, Virginia Madsen, Meghan Ory, Keegan Connor Tracy and Rob Riggle as famed journalist Frank West. The film was made first available exclusive to Xbox LIVE members on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, but fans can watch the full movie below or by visiting the Crackle website starting today. Read on.

After a zombie outbreak, four survivors must evade infection while tracking down the cause of the epidemic. Starring Jesse Metcalfe (Dallas), Dennis Haysbert (Ted 2), Virginia Madsen (Sideways), Meghan Ory (Once Upon a Time), Keegan Connor Tracy (Once Upon a Time) and Rob Riggle (The Daily Show).

For more information on Dead Rising: Watchtower, check out the official Crackle website.

•• New clips are available for Crackle’s Dead Rising: Watchtower, a feature film adaptation of the hit video game franchise.  It is available now via the Crackle app on Xbox 360 and Xbox One and is launching everywhere on March 27th.

The cast includes Jesse Metcalfe (“Desperate Housewives,” “Dallas”), Meghan Ory (“Once Upon a Time”), Virginia Madsen (Candyman, Sideways), Dennis Haysbert (Men, Women & Children), comic actor Rob Riggle (22 Jump Street, Let’s Be Cops), Harley Morenstein (“Epic Meal Time”), Keegan Connor Tracey (“Bates Motel,” “Once Upon A Time”), and Aleks Paunovic (This Means War).

A distraught mother (Virginia Madsen, Sideways) refuses to leave her daughter’s side while Jesse Metcalfe (Dallas) and Meghan Ory (Intelligence) urge her to flee the approaching zombies. Dead Rising: Watchtower also stars Rob Riggle (The Daily Show) and Dennis Haysbert (Ted 2).

Crackle will give the 90-minute feature, directed by Leprechaun: Origins’ Zach Lipovsky, an exclusive digital release in the U.S. before the film receives a multi-platform release on SVOD, VOD, DVD, and TV. The script was written by Tim Carter, who also produces alongside Tomas Harlan under their Contradiction Films banner (the same company that produced Mortal Kombat: Legacy). Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, G.I. Joe) is the executive producer.

Synopsis:
As in the video game, Dead Rising: Watchtower is set during a zombie apocalypse. When a mandatory government vaccine fails, a group of survivors must evade infection while hunting down the root of the epidemic, which leads back to a government conspiracy.