Game movies (LIST IN FIRST POST)

[MikeHaggar]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/ ... layed.html

All video-game adaptations these days seem like fraught propositions, but the movie version of "Gears of War" has seemed especially touch-and-go. First there were rumors that the property had stalled in development. Then the rumors were quelled. Then they started up again.

Now sources say the New Line project has really slowed down. The film's story and budget have been scaled back, and director Len Wiseman, the filmmaker behind "Live Free or Die Hard" and the "Underworld" franchise (he's variously written, directed and/or produced the three films in the franchise), is instead turning his attention to "Nocturne," an apocalyptic thriller based on an idea from "Red Dawn" writers Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore.

the studio has now cut the budget, going from a film that would have cost more than $100 million to one that will cost a good chunk less than that. It's also reined in the story, turning it into a more simple, straight-ahead invasion story instead of a sprawling epic. Producers are looking for a new writer to handle all this, but haven't found one yet. And Wiseman, while technically still attached, will likely not be a part of it when all is said and done.

A New Line spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.

[MikeHaggar]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... anime-film

The British anime distributor Manga Entertainment has announced on Tuesday that it will release the Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva anime film on both DVD and Blu-ray in September. Manga Entertainment added that so far it has only licensed the first Professor Layton movie, and that it may change the title of the movie for the release.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I think we can add Halo Legends to the list, even though it's not technically a film, it is game related

And personally I can't wait for the Broken Sword film. It's something which should have been done a long time ago, and I hope they don't mess this one up as the source material is pretty much perfect as it is. I always considered the National Treasure films to be unnofficial Broken Sword stories as they are both very similar in a way. I hope they don't mis-cast the roles of George and Nico though, and also hope they don't mess with the original story too much - I can see them padding it out a lot

[MikeHaggar]

The 'already released' list only covers live action movies

[Zer0_One]

Can i just point out if there is a Rainbow Six movie in the works it'll be based on the book, not the game.

[MikeHaggar]

Ok. Removed from the list now.



http://movies.ign.com/articles/108/1082457p1.html

The movie version of Halo has almost happened before -- Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp could tell you all about that -- but so far said project just hasn't panned out. Still, Frank O'Connor, the Master Chief of the Halo world, says the film will happen. Eventually.

O'Connor addressed the issue at the MI6 Conference in San Francisco last week during a session called "Extending Your Game Beyond the Package."

"We're going to make a movie when the time is right," he said. "We own the IP. If we want to make a movie, the scale of all the other stuff that we do changes dramatically. We make tens and tens of millions of dollars on ancillary stuff, toys, apparel, music and publishing. If we do a movie all of that will grow exponentially. We have some numbers if we do a movie, but it changes everything. It also changes our target and age demographic."

So there you have it. Not only is O'Connor certain that a Halo movie is going to happen at some point, but it makes absolute financial sense to do one too.

[MikeHaggar]

Another behind the scenes video from Prince of Persia:
http://kotaku.com/5515259/behind-the-sc ... ds-of-time

[MikeHaggar]

Interview with Jerry Bruckheimer about the Prince of Persia movie, and a little bit about the games he's making too:
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2796 ... s_Fail.php

[MikeHaggar]

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/04/13/ex ... t-in-1914/

Paul Verhoeven is a rare genius, the sort that not everyone recognizes. On the surface, works like "Starship Troopers," "Basic Instinct" and "RoboCop" seem like popcorn blockbusters, but there's a lot going on beneath the surface for those who choose to look for it. Fans should be excited then that the filmmaker is turning his attention to a medium that has frequently been abused by past Hollywood adaptations: video games.

"I am working on a movie now that is... situated in 1914. Basically, Indiana Jones-ish you could say, but also Hitchcockian," he explained in a recent interview with MTV's Josh Horowitz. "We are scripting it. It's an idea that exists already... from another medium, and so we are making it now into a film narrative." Which medium, Josh asked. "A game, a video game."

Unfortunately, Verhoeven is unwilling to reveal the identity of his source material just yet, though the game's writer is apparently involved in developing it. "The writer of the video game has asked me to keep [the identity of the game] secret until he has a script."

Film editor Peter Sciretta rightly points out that a very likely candidate for this adaptation is mystery/adventure game "The Last Express," created by none other than "Prince of Persia" architect Jordan Mechner. With "Prince" getting a soon-to-release adaptation and Mechner so freshly finished with that movie's screenplay, I'd frankly be surprised if this adaptation didn't turn out to be "The Last Express." Good catch guys.

[MikeHaggar]

Red Faction TV movie:
http://www.pressthebuttons.com/2010/04/ ... works.html

Looking to get a slice of the $20 billion-a-year U.S. video-game market, drive new revenue streams and continue expanding its brand beyond the television set, NBC Universal's Syfy is planning a major expansion of its Syfy Games unit in 2010.

At the heart of the future of Syfy Games is the network's relationship with video-game publisher THQ. The two companies announced their partnership in February, and said they would be bringing THQ's de Blob franchise to TV and the Web via the Syfy Kids banner. Now, the companies are partnering on another of THQ's biggest properties: first-person shooter Red Faction.

Syfy has just closed a deal to bring Red Faction to television via a two-hour movie, which will also serve as a back-door pilot. In addition, the next iteration of the Red Faction video-game series will be produced in conjunction with Syfy Games.

"It is the kind of content that fits our genre," Alan Seiffert, senior VP of Syfy Ventures, told B&C. "It is a great fit for a big Syfy Saturday movie, and if it really works, it is a great back-door pilot."

[MikeHaggar]

An update on the Warcraft film:
http://www.vg247.com/2010/04/28/intervi ... warm-more/

Are you spending a considerable amount of time on the Sam Raimi-directed Warcraft film?

[Blizzard's vice president of creative development] Chris Metzen: I wouldn’t say “considerable” at all just yet. We’ve been through a number of story meetings, and we’re still kind of getting it together with Raimi and his team and jamming on themes that we want to chase. We’re kinda getting a lot of values together – what kind of story we want to tell, what do we want people to feel, what is the best way to look at this big franchise.

We had had some script iterations previous to Raimi coming on board that were cool, that had some really good bits – sometimes a little too overcooked or a little too undercooked. We’re still trying to feel out that space, so as he came in he wanted to have fresh eyes and look at the content of Warcraft in such a way as to dig out what will most people feel: “Oh, I get it, that matches my expectations when I played.”

You can aim the camera in a hundred different directions in a place like Warcraft so it’s kind of finding that right one. But in terms of division of time, or whatever, it doesn’t take up a tremendous amount of time these days. It’s really just strategic phone calls or strategic meetings from time to time until things really get moving on the Hollywood side.


Do you have concerns the film interpretation will disappoint fans?

Chris Metzen: I don’t have specific concerns that weigh at this moment. I have… from the day we decided it would be a good idea to have a movie in any shape… I worry about that stuff constantly. Hell, I worry about it on the games side. It’s all so complicated and fast moving – I have nightmares about screwing it up or just missing the mark. Even a movie that’s 85% good; that’s not 100% good, and our fans are very particular. But the point where we are today, with Sam and his crew – we’re still feeling it out and I think everyone shares that.

Nobody wants to screw it up: we all want to hit it hard and have it be something that is as resonant and canonical as it can be. But given what Warcraft is, with all these moving parts, we’re going to have to take some liberties here and there. I’m under no illusions about that fact, but it’s the spirit in which you do that. You know – organic web shooters versus [Spider-man] Peter Parker’s science lab mechanical web shooters. Sometimes you have to break with convention, and I’m sure that we will. I don’t know where or how, but we’re still feeling that out. I don’t have any cause for worry right now, but I can tell you I’m fundamentally worried about screwing it up – but we picked the best partners we could find.

[MikeHaggar]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/ ... arted.html

As Disney gets ready to shoot the fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean,” Sony is looking for its own piece of the booty.

The studio is moving forward on “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune,” the adaptation of the hugely popular video game that has a descendant of Sir Francis Drake colorfully and elaborately fighting his way to treasure on a remote desert isle. Several directors are said to sit in producers' sightlines, with the unusual name of David O. Russell on the list of notables. (Sources emphasize it's still at the meeting stage and not yet close to the deal-making one.)

After bringing on writers for "Uncharted" back in the fall (Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, who also worked on the DreamWorks adaptation of “Cowboys & Aliens”), producers (who include Charles Roven of "Dark Knight” fame) and the studio are said to like the pair’s version of the script and want to move forward. Sony even thought of trying to push the project so that the movie could fill a hole in the studio’s 2011 summer schedule but, with the Kevin James comedy “The Zookeeper” now in a slot that summer, is less likely to try that.

As for Russell, videogame-based action-adventures and the man who brought us one of the best of the 1990s' dark indie dramas (” Spanking the Monkey,” natch) as well as one of its most frenetic comedies ("Flirting with Disaster," also natch) may not immediately seem to go together. (Russell also recently completed a gritty drama, the period boxing movie "The Fighter," which is starting to generate early buzz.)

[MikeHaggar]

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/70442 ... Movie.html

When I met up with [Paul W.S.] Anderson at the 3D Gaming Summit in Los Angeles, we mostly talked about 3D, but I had to ask him if there was a chance he'd return to Mortal Kombat.

"I love Mortal Kombat," he said. "I loved making the movie."

"I loved the video game before I made the movie," continued Anderson. "I used to play it in England all the time. That's a property that I have a huge amount of affection for and I think it's a property that could again be relaunched and make an amazing movie."

Unfortunately, Anderson didn't make it sound like there would be a new movie anytime soon.

"No one's talked to me about it," he confessed, before laying out some hope for fans if that ever changed. "But if they did, it would be something I would definitely be interested in. It was the movie that launched me in Hollywood, so obviously I have a huge affection for it."

[MikeHaggar]

http://www.siliconera.com/2010/05/05/av ... ect-at-e3/

What is former Marvel CEO Avi Arad doing with his free time? Working with Namco Bandai. Seriously. Arad is an executive adviser at Namco Bandai.

At a private party during E3, Avi Arad will present a new project and the next evolution of Pac-Man. The invite says “project” so this may not be a game. It could be a live action Pac-Man film. Arad is tied to a number of films like Iron Man and a Bratz movie.

[MikeHaggar]

A clip from the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time movie:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=65758