“’Backwater’ is one of only a few video game concepts for which the movie rights have been sold to a studio of Miramax’ stature and a further indication that the video game industry is a fertile birthing ground for Hollywood,” said Richard Leibowitz of Union Entertainment, BFG’s production partner and the company that put the “Backwater” deal together with Dimension and Miramax.

BFG partners Flint Dille and John Zuur Platten started their creative careers in Hollywood as a screenwriter and television writer respectively, and were among the first of the Hollywood writers to embrace video games in the early 1990s. Since then, BFG has created or played a major role in the success of video game franchises like Namco’s “Dead to Rights” (recently awarded Best Story on PlayStation 2 in 2002 by GameSpot), Eidos’ “Fear Effect”, and Electronic Arts’ “Strike” series.

“When we work on projects, whether our own or someone else’s, we are very conscious of the fact that the best projects are the ones that are successful across multiple media like films, television, games, graphic novels, soundtracks, and so on, so we purposely include design elements in each project that will allow us to use that project in different media,” said Platten.

“We’re proud of the fact that Eidos turned ‘Fear Effect’ into a series of games and made even more money on comics and action figures, and that Namco is entertaining film and television deals for ‘Dead to Rights’. But we’re most proud of the fact that Dimension and Miramax believe in our ability to create franchises, and has decided to partner with us on ‘Backwater’,” added Dille.

“Backwater” is a unique and terrifying twist on the survival horror genre, appropriately set in the dark swamps and bayous of the Deep South. In the game, players must constantly confront their feelings of vulnerability and fear as they develop strategies to fight, trap, and contain a classic horror villain named Mr. Jangle.