"Heroes" star Masi Oka may have had a hand in saving the world (as well as a certain cheerleader), but now he's stepping up to mastermind a plot of his own creation. Not a world domination plot, mind you. Oka has successfully pitched DreamWorks on "The Defenders," a family adventure conceived by the actor out of his experiences playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games, aka MMORPGs a la "World of Warcraft."
Oka will executive produce the project, joined by "Fringe" and "Star Trek" producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The Hollywood Reporter reveals that "The Book of Eli" writer Gary Whitta is already nailed down to deliver a script, and that "Eagle Eye" director D.J. Caruso is "in talks" to helm. The story also reveals that -- surprise, surprise -- DreamWorks will develop a video game tie-in for the feature. Given the long-term costs involved in maintaining an MMORPG, I expect that the game will spin off of the movie's plot in a standalone adventure.
The plot follows a group of MMORPG-playing teens, friends from around the globe who only know each other in their online personae. An unnamed threat arises, somehow forcing the group together into the real life struggle. So basically we're looking at ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Hmmm... now where have I heard that before?
Cynicism aside, Oka teaming up with J.J. Abrams cohorts Kurtzman and Orci is a good marriage of interests. The THR report reveals that Oka had met with the duo several times, hoping to land an acting role in one of their projects. Oka's "Defenders" pitch impressed them because of their current focus on supporting projects along the lines of what "Amblin [Entertainment] used to do, that combined an innocence with the adventure." Which means they're looking to Amblin projects like "Back to the Future," "The Goonies" and "Innerspace" for inspiration. In a word: sweet!
So here we have "Heroes"' Hiro delivering an "unlikely heroes" fable... how does that make you feel?
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