It's common knowledge that video games have had a rough go of things in Hollywood. It's still a young entertainment medium -- comparing them chronologically to film, games have really only reached their "talkie" phase -- but a story is a story, and games really just haven't been adapted very well. That hasn't stopped filmmakers from trying to crack the code though.
There was some promise in "Halo," which Peter Jackson was going to produce and "District 9" helmer Neill Blomkamp was going to direct. Until it fizzled out, that is. The next great hope on the horizon is "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," which hits theaters next May. Both of these games have rich, well-developed stories. "Twilight" producer Wyck Godfrey, who has his hands on adaptations of "Gears of War" and "Dead Space," argues that the big problem with game adaptations thus far is related mostly to the source narratives. Read more...
The prospect of Armageddon is one of the scarier notions facing humanity today — but apparently it's not as scary for movie studios based on an upcoming film from director Len Wiseman.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the "Live Free or Die Hard" helmer is attached to produce and direct an untitled pitch — though the article's headline identifies the film's title as "Nocturne" — for 20th Century Fox. The film's plot centers on a handful of survivors following a wide-scale apocalyptic event and how each of them arrived at their current dilemma. Writers have yet to be hired. Read more...
I'll leave it to my esteemed colleagues at MTV's Multiplayer blog to weigh in the potential for "Gears of War" as a movie property. But I certainly can weigh in on Len "I'm more than Kate Beckinsale's husband" Wiseman. If you'd asked me a year ago where Mr. Wiseman ranked in the pantheon of genre filmmakers I'd have put him about on par with Steven Sommers (you know, the guy that made a movie starring Hugh Jackman as a monster hunter interminable). Before last summer Wiseman was the guy who couldn't make me interested in a vampire/werewolf movie starring the aforementioned Beckinsale in skin-tight leather.
BUT then came "Live Free or Die Hard," an actual honest to goodness breath of fresh wacked-out action air. Sure it was silly. Sure it wasn't exactly memorable. But it was entertaining as hell. Len Wiseman, maybe you've got something after all. And now it's on to "Gears of War" for Len. The little I know of the game makes it sound like a cool and attractive template for a kick-ass action flick.
But you guys probably know that stuff better than me. What do you think? Is Len Wiseman the right guy for "Gears of War" or do we have another "Doom" on our hands? What NEEDS to be included in the flick to honor the game? Sound off.
