Area 51 being renovated at Hollywood's Paramount Pictures

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Apr 4th 2007 at 12:47PM }

As far as game-to-film adaptations go, Midway's Area 51 is almost certainly one of the easiest ones to pitch; the equivalent of a limp-wristed grandma flinging a roll of film at an executive producer sitting five inches away. Ticking nearly all of the boxes on Hollywood's quality assurance list, namely "aliens," "guns" and (this one is crucial) "aliens being killed by guns," Area 51 seems like a natural property for Paramount Pictures to abduct and perform hideous experiments on.

Variety reports that comic book writer and artist, Grant Morrison, has been handed the task of adapting the 2005 first-person shooter (which was itself loosely based on the 90's light gun game) into a piece of cinema. Morrison's list of published works includes issues of Judge Dredd, New X-Men, Batman, JLA and Fantastic Four. If completed and released (Paramount has reportedly been sitting on the rights since 2004), Area 51 will mark his first produced film project. Hollywood monster guru, Stan Winston, is also attached as producer.

Hopefully, the production team will gather some inspiration from forthcoming Area 51 sequel, Blacksite, which is said to be more politically charged and thoughtful than the first. Then again, perhaps Hollywood should concentrate on getting the basics right first.

[Via FirstShowing.net]

Tags: Area 51, Area51, Blacksite, Midway, Paramount Studios, ParamountStudios

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jonathan Tran @ Apr 4th 2007 1:24PM

I never played the FPS but the light gun game must have been one of the worst ever made. Yes worse than the Aerosmith game. It was like Lethal Enforcers except nothing made sense.

NATO_Duke @ Apr 4th 2007 1:15PM

I sure wish I could get paid for having ideas as bad as that. I cant see anything about the game that makes for a movie - we have seen it 100 times before.

WizarDru @ Apr 4th 2007 2:29PM

Mentioning Grant Morrison and then not mentioning Animal Man, Doom Patrol or the Invisibles seems just....odd.

Jake @ Apr 4th 2007 2:11PM

Yes, but there is a reason so many movies involve killing aliens with guns. They sell. And you don't absolutely have to follow the mold 100%. With some creativity, you could still make a very unique movie, even if it is bound by the whole "we are humans uncovering a government plot in a secret warehouse full of aliens with technology beyond comprehension and a weakness to projectile weaponry."