City of Heroes soaring to film, TV

Movie studio execs, we need to have a talk. We just don't understand the video game properties you're turning into movies now. First, there was The Sims, which still has us throwing up in our mouths a bit. Now, Transformers producer Tom DeSanto has picked up the rights to the City of Heroes MMORPG. There are apparently plans to turn it in to a big budget film and then into a TV series. Honestly, what are you guys doing?

Now, don't get us wrong, we'd love to see the first good superheroes vs. aliens flick since Independence Day (you didn't know Bill Pullman was a superhero?). And we can certainly understand the financial motivation. But what are you really buying with City of Heroes? Is it the name recognition? That won't help you with the mainstream moviegoers. Is the characters? Are you really dropping coin for The Statesman? We just don't get it, why call it City of Heroes? You know, you make a movie called Flying Town or Metropolis of Super-hard Punching, and you don't have to pay a dime. It can be the exact same thing, just with a different title. This, of course, comes as bad news for producers of Sims movie, as there's already a film about people speaking gibberish for 90 minutes and then dying in a room filled with their own fecal matter. It's called White Chicks.

[Via Sci Fi Wire, Thanks, Ryan Gioia]

Reader Comments (20)

City of Hero "BLOWS"

COH/COV is just as fun as any of the other MMOs out there. If you enjoy the setting, it is just as enjoyable as any of the other grindfests out there. For me it is one of the only MMO games that I have ever stuck with over a long period of time.

LOL @ White Chicks description.

It's gonna be a good day.

Guild Wars is way better than CoH period! Guild Wars FTW! ("""\(>.

Hollywood usually gets writers who are unfamiliar with the original game or comic book, and they purposefully dumb-down the plot and style in order to broaden the audience. The fact that they licensed a game with no significant characters or plot won't really matter since Hollywood usually igores those things anyway!

This will be fantastic...a good movie followed up by a repetitive tv show. It'll be just like the game!

I think the movie industry just glances at the game industry and says "What's popular? We'll buy rights to that." rather than actually looking at the games and realizing "Oh, this one has no story or main character. Maybe we should rethink this."

What's sad is this might actually sell. City of Heroes is a pretty cool name, and if they can get a good trailer with it, it's gold. The only missing component is Michael Clarke Duncan playing a giant robot hero.

Erm...Actually, COH does have a story, and a pretty decent one too. This article feels a bit 'rushed'.

A wee bit of explanation:
The story of the movie will settle a few years before the events of COH/COV. That is, the moment of the Rikti invasion (aliens, yes :p), and the group known as the freedom phalanx who battles them.
If people want to know how this (according to the game) ends, a good deal of them dies, and the leftovers are prominent characters in the game.

On another note, I restarted Coh after issue 9 came out, and I am quite pleasantly surprised. You level quite fast, as long as you are in a team, and I dont find it getting boring. It has quite the depth to it in my opinion. Worth a try if you want a new 'fantastic/fantasy' mmo.

Well said Ryan!!

I just don't get why the movie industry keeps paying money for the daftest computer games. The number of people who'd go to see a CoH game (or even a sims game) purely because of the licensing would be tiny..
..and why not just make your own movie with exactly those generic elements.

Superheroes vs aliens would be sweet.. but its not like there aren't enough, better known, superheroes out there to make a movie on. Or heck, invent your own...

Same goes for Doom, any fighting game, and almost any sci-fi/fantasy game. They are all so generic and based on genre stereotypes that its surely cheaper and easier to just make your own characters in that genre.

(Same almost goes for Halo, which has very generic characters and setting.. but i'm kinda interested in that director they (might) have. )

Thief (garrett and setting), Deus Ex (characters and plot (if little derivative) and Half Life would be my recommendations for licenses WORTH picking up.

Mystery Men 2?

@Kite

Let me rephrase. The storyline in City of Heroes reflects most of the game itself: a generic superhero-based story that uses every cliche they could think of.

I'm not bashing City of Heroes (I play it myself). The game set out to create a generic superhero world and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. But just about every comic book ever made would make a better movie.

@t_m

Hey now! Don't bash the fantasy games. Final Fantasy has been making very involved and deep stories for years, and it's typically considered one of the most generic in the genre.

That said, you're right about Half-Life. It would be the #1 top choice for movie-based-on-game.

heroes? how will this be any different?

As I think everyone knows, the CoH IP could be used to craft an amazing TV show.

All you need is a giant blue simpleton with a unique battle cry and you've got a winner.

aliens? hah =P If you've done the storyarcs in city of heroes you find out that rikti are highly evolved humans :D

The only FPSes I ever want to see on the big screen would be System Shock and Half Life.

I AM SHODAN!!!

You guys are missing a big thing here.

Why do an already established hero? Its pointless no matter how good the movie will be people will nitpick because it did not do the proper origin or the actors are not right.

When selecting COH all you have is the most BASIC story. With very little detail.

Its aliens come in the heroes unite several die and one gets an area named after him.

Since we have never seen the actual invasion they can start essentially from scratch. As well as invent new heroes. That do not adhere to the COH universe.

And when explained why Hero X is not in the game. You can simply state that he/she died during the invasion or between the time period after the invasion to when the game picks up (which i believe is what 5 years?)

Also the tv show makes perfect sense. You create a brand new hero and just adhere to the world.

Its the same when you do Final Fantasy movies they can not adhere to the story since its completely different each game. So they either do a continuation of a set story or start a new one. And we all saw what happened when they start a new story (spirits within)

Actually several of us participated in the Rikti invasion at the end of beta. It was a pretty amazing battle. Giant ships appearing over every major city, beaming lights falling from the sky all around you. Massive battles, and such. It was pretty exciting. Oh, and yes the story is there. Including two comic book series, and a novel. Plenty to work with, and hero related entertainment is at a all time high. If you ask me the question we should be asking, what took so long.

So will the TV series will simply show the same heroes beating up the same villians for 5 episodes?

If this is going to be in anime I'd be all for it (especially the tv version). With City of Heroes, you don't have to stick to just one group of heroes each episode. They would have the freedom to do different groups with no tie-ins or continuity issuses.

maybe they can schedule it during the regular maintenance periods :P

Actually I believe there was a Rikti invasion long before the time period of the games start...

City of Heroes soaring to film, TV

Reader Comments (20)

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