Juliet Starling is heading to live action. A Lollipop Chainsaw feature film is now in development, with the project announced onstage during Tokyo Game Show 2026.
The movie is planned as an R-rated action comedy and a prequel to the original 2012 game. It will follow Juliet before the events players already know, when a zombie outbreak reaches San Romero High School and forces her to protect her friends, her family and her boyfriend Nick.
No actor has been announced for Juliet. The film also has no director, release date or distributor yet.
The movie is starting with Juliet’s family secret
Juliet appears to be an ordinary cheerleader, but she comes from a family of zombie hunters. The game reveals that secret after the outbreak has already begun. A prequel gives the film room to introduce the Starling family and show what Juliet’s life looked like before a chainsaw became part of her school day.
The announced story still leads toward San Romero High, so the movie is not leaving the game behind. It is using the outbreak and Juliet’s relationships as the entrance to the series rather than asking new viewers to understand years of lore.
The production team includes Joe Teng of NADA Holdings, Robert Franke of Orange Chariot, Takafumi Yuki of Throne, Kirk Shaw of Ambitious Entertainment and Patricio Rabuffetti of Non Stop TV. The film is being made under license from Dragami Games.
Franke said the goal is a movie that feels true to Lollipop Chainsaw while it can “stand fully on its own as a film.” That is an important promise for a game built from bright colors, gore, cheerleading and jokes that can become exhausting if the balance is wrong.
The film is not showing footage yet
The Tokyo Game Show presentation introduced the producers and confirmed that the project exists, but it did not reveal a cast photo, finished costume, set image or trailer. The event photos in this article show the announcement and a Juliet cosplayer used for the stage presentation.
The game screenshot above comes from Lollipop Chainsaw RePOP. It shows the version of Juliet and San Romero High that the movie will have to translate, but it is not an image from the film.
Dragami president Shohei Sato said he is excited to see the franchise take “another important step” with its first live-action feature. The company is also expanding Lollipop Chainsaw through the new game Lollipop Chainsaw 2: Back2Back and a separate animated project.
The tone will decide whether it works
Lollipop Chainsaw is not a serious zombie story with one strange heroine added on top. Its identity comes from the clash between Juliet’s cheerful energy and the ridiculous violence around her. The movie needs both sides.
The R rating gives the production space for the gore and language associated with the games. The action-comedy description also makes clear that the team is not trying to turn Juliet into the lead of a grim survival movie.
For now, the live-action Lollipop Chainsaw movie is officially in development. The next meaningful update will be a director, a performer for Juliet or a release plan. Until one of those arrives, any fan casting or claim that filming has begun should be treated as speculation.
