The response to a potential Hollywood adaptation of Shadow of the Colossus has been rather polarizing. On one hand, fans of the game would love to see Fumito Ueda's vision come to life on the big screen. However, jaded movie watchers fear that a film simply wouldn't do the game justice -- especially in the unproven hands of screenwriter Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li).
Marks understands the pitfalls of adapting a game into a movie. He explained to The Hollywood Reporter that writers are "caught trying to please the fans and the mainstream audience." The balancing act of appeasing fans while holding onto mainstream sensibilities is a difficult one, but one can't help but wonder who Marks was trying to please with Street Fighter. Thankfully, Marks admits Shadow of the Colossus will be an easier film to adapt. "What's so nice about this game is that it's all seen through such an adult lens, so that what pleases the fans also pleases a wider audience."
The simple nature of the game's tale should make Marks' job much easier. "What's nice about this game is that it's so sparse so you can start building right away." While he says he'll avoid Hollywood cliches, it'll take masterful writing to carefully construct an experience that resonates as strongly as the original game.
Reader Comments (95)
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:41AM Da Largest said
Not a whole lot? Hahaha, yo, man, the PS2 was the only console other than the DS that could ever hope to stand next to the god-teir SNES. Me thinks you automatically dislike PS2 games based not on, you know, how good they are (you've already established time and time again that you don't play or even bother knowing anything about bost of the games you bash before you bash 'em), but by the fact that they're on a Sony system. Jeez. Back when the Dreamcast got killed off, I had my irrational Sony hatred phase, too. But I got over it. I think you should too. @golob - a lot of the time, Vesper'll just throw out meaningless buzzphrases like 'sony fanboys' and 'holier than thou' to make it appear as though he has a valid talking point.
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:05AM (Unverified) said
The guy who wrote Street Fighter the Legend of Chun-Li is writing this? So I'm guessing this means the Colossi will all have an unexplainable Irish accent even though there were born in raised in the Forbidden Lands?
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 1:31AM (Unverified) said
yeah.. exactly.
the casting in street fighter was bad, but the writing was horrendous. having this guy write the screenplay for a work of art like SoC would be like letting my nephew duplicate the mona lisa using nothing but his hands and a pile of feces.
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the casting in street fighter was bad, but the writing was horrendous. having this guy write the screenplay for a work of art like SoC would be like letting my nephew duplicate the mona lisa using nothing but his hands and a pile of feces.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 3:32PM WiredKnight said
Next we'll hear from the NRA why the second amendment is a good idea.
Not saying there's anything wrong with either, but I think the screenwriter might be a little biased.
The only way this movie might be any good is if there's no dialogue. And we all know that's not going to happen.
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Not saying there's anything wrong with either, but I think the screenwriter might be a little biased.
The only way this movie might be any good is if there's no dialogue. And we all know that's not going to happen.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:05AM ailurus74 said
Eh. I'm iffy here. This sort of game has about...10% chance of being an absolutely beautiful movie, and a 90% chance of being unspeakably bad =\
As a fan of the game, I'm really hoping for that 10%. Or don't make the movie at all, because honestly, there doesn't need to be one.
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As a fan of the game, I'm really hoping for that 10%. Or don't make the movie at all, because honestly, there doesn't need to be one.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:24AM MarkezJM said
In "Into the Wild" some of the parts I liked more when it was just the guy alone in the wilderness, by himself, and no dialogue. I think something similar could work for this in giving it a desolate/alone/atmospheric quality. The world of SotC was almost a character in itself, such a huge unique expanse with interesting terrain, plant life, bridges, buildings.
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:30AM BananaBoat said
Just imagine the budget you'd need to make the Colossi look even half decent. It's not going to get that kind of funding, unless Sony really thinks this could be a blockbuster.
I'd put that figure at 99.9% chance of the movie being awful, and .1% chance of a miracle.
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I'd put that figure at 99.9% chance of the movie being awful, and .1% chance of a miracle.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 1:43AM (Unverified) said
I'm actually rooting for this movie. It's gotta be as good as the Ico movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTrm4Yie4ow
That shit broke my heart. So emotional.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTrm4Yie4ow
That shit broke my heart. So emotional.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 3:22AM (Unverified) said
@ryan
That was hilarious. Thank you for that. I'm still laughing :)
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That was hilarious. Thank you for that. I'm still laughing :)
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 9:31AM Snow Leopard said
LOL. Oh, escort missions. Why would they want to make an entire game out of one?
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:16AM Discotheque said
"Listen mate, you just fucked with the wrong wanderer."
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:31AM BananaBoat said
"I take whatever is in my horse's saddle bags, and I transport it to the destination, no questions asked. I do not look at the contents of the saddle bags, period, you can trust me. Feel free to put anything you want in there, seriously."
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:46AM Da Largest said
BANINATED ... anyone keeping tabs? This has got to be Gundamn's fifteenth ban in the last few months alone.
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:08AM (Unverified) said
"On one hand, fans of the game would love to see Fumito Ueda's vision come to life on the big screen."
Fallacy.
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Fallacy.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:10AM MarkezJM said
From the source - "I think many of the games haven't worked as movies because it's hard to find the right game. There are very few that lend themselves to movies,"
I don't understand why he feels this one is so ready for the big screen. Other than the cinematic quality of the game, it's devoid of a deep story or enough variety for a compelling movie. It's kill colossus, annnnd repeat. Bout it. Unless he means that since there's so little of a developed story that he can do whatever the hell he wants with it?
And why the hell does he assume this somehow translates and would be so appealing for a wider audience!?
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I don't understand why he feels this one is so ready for the big screen. Other than the cinematic quality of the game, it's devoid of a deep story or enough variety for a compelling movie. It's kill colossus, annnnd repeat. Bout it. Unless he means that since there's so little of a developed story that he can do whatever the hell he wants with it?
And why the hell does he assume this somehow translates and would be so appealing for a wider audience!?
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:38AM BananaBoat said
SOTC's story is so open to interpretation that there is enough wiggle room for a writer to completely f*ck it six ways from Sunday, until you can't even tell that it is Shadow of the Colossus. I can't imagine that Ueda, a perfectionist, would be too happy about this movie ever seeing the light of day. You know the man has a vision for the story as a whole in his head (like how he only recently confirmed that SOTC was indeed a prequel to Ico) and if this movie does anything to infringe on his vision, I have a feeling that he is going to get angry.
If I were him I'd denounce any movies as non-canon right now, in an attempt to stop this movie from ever getting made.
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If I were him I'd denounce any movies as non-canon right now, in an attempt to stop this movie from ever getting made.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 8:52AM foxhound said
^ LOL.
And no, I wouldn't want this game(nor any other)at this point being turned into a movie. Hollywood standards are just too low at this point and frankly, I don't have enough faith in the "execs" on both the studio and game developer/publisher's sides to amicably work together to make a critically acclaimed film... even if it was my own fandom, METAL GEAR.
As for SOTC, it was definitely a great game... but I cringe in thinking what kind of wild storylines would be fleshed out in having the protagonist take down the various Colossi.
"Our hero killed the one with the stone club. Then a water lizard. Then a flying one. And then another in an arena."
"In a shocking and offensive twist, the hero is revealed to be a bigot of those taller than him."
"THIS SUMMER... Rob Schnieder goes Colossus hunting!"
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And no, I wouldn't want this game(nor any other)at this point being turned into a movie. Hollywood standards are just too low at this point and frankly, I don't have enough faith in the "execs" on both the studio and game developer/publisher's sides to amicably work together to make a critically acclaimed film... even if it was my own fandom, METAL GEAR.
As for SOTC, it was definitely a great game... but I cringe in thinking what kind of wild storylines would be fleshed out in having the protagonist take down the various Colossi.
"Our hero killed the one with the stone club. Then a water lizard. Then a flying one. And then another in an arena."
"In a shocking and offensive twist, the hero is revealed to be a bigot of those taller than him."
"THIS SUMMER... Rob Schnieder goes Colossus hunting!"
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:13AM (Unverified) said
"On one hand, fans of the game would love to see Fumito Ueda's vision come to life on the big screen."
This should be corrected to say...
"On one hand, fans of the game would love to see Fumito Ueda's vision come to life on the PS3."
I'd pay BIG money for a remake of this game, or at least the same game running at 1080p visuals... the game was already beautiful, just up the resolution and I'd be fine.
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This should be corrected to say...
"On one hand, fans of the game would love to see Fumito Ueda's vision come to life on the PS3."
I'd pay BIG money for a remake of this game, or at least the same game running at 1080p visuals... the game was already beautiful, just up the resolution and I'd be fine.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:15AM Discotheque said
You just know the scriptwriter is going to stuff this movie with alot of useless exposition due to the simple (yet effective) nature of the game sadly.
Give directing duties to Terrence Mallick. That's just me hoping though, it would never happen. But man it would be a visually stunning film. He'd be the only director who would allow the film to be just like the game, minimal yet beautiful. I'll skip this film, I can already see it failing bad.
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Give directing duties to Terrence Mallick. That's just me hoping though, it would never happen. But man it would be a visually stunning film. He'd be the only director who would allow the film to be just like the game, minimal yet beautiful. I'll skip this film, I can already see it failing bad.
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:41AM BananaBoat said
I can imagine the story-raping exposition of Wander and Mono attending a LOTR style town fair, with fireworks and all sorts of crap, and then they suddenly decide to sacrifice Mono at the end to appease their gods. After the sacrifice, Wander gets up and goes "NOOOOO!!!!" in Darth Vader style, and then grabs the body, steals the sword (sitting right next to the body! how convenient!) and takes off for the forbidden land. While this is happening, everyone else is drunk, so no one thinks to stop him.
*Gnashes teeth*
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*Gnashes teeth*
Posted: Apr 10th 2009 1:06AM PedoJokerBear said
dont forget a great soundtrack, cause that was a high point of the game as well.
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:20AM ch3burashka said
Yes, you're right. It can make a great movie, possibly a very moving tear-jerking movie and the best game movie of all time. Sadly, all statistics are against it and as much as it pains me, I'll say that it will not be good.
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Posted: Apr 10th 2009 12:22AM (Unverified) said
This hack better not go near Shadow of the Colossus! Doesn't he realize that the "sparse"ness of its story is part of what it makes it such a beautiful experience? It allows the protagonist (gamer or viewer) to determine it for himself. The lack of dialogue in the game also reduces it to its most primal and visceral emotions.
Perfect game. Good luck to anyone trying to capture half the magic on film.
G
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Perfect game. Good luck to anyone trying to capture half the magic on film.
G
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