A
recent Visceral Games press release revealed the talent behind the script of
Dante's Inferno: Will Rokos, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the screenplay for
Monster's Ball. We missed out on that one when it was in theaters, but a quick Wikipedia search taught us that it's a troubling tale of ingrained racial conflict, shattered families, coping with lost loved ones and brief, uncompromising shots of Billy Bob Thornton's testicles.
So, yeah. Lots of overlap between that and an action-oriented video game based on a 14th century epic poem.
{ Oct 10th 2009 at 12:00AM } 
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mo @ Oct 10th 2009 12:03AM
I think the only thing anyone remembers from that movie is...ahem
MystileArmor @ Oct 10th 2009 1:00AM
P. Diddy in a diaper
Sly @ Oct 10th 2009 12:06AM
i came here to say one thing.
bewbs.
Solace @ Oct 10th 2009 4:25AM
and so did I purple veiny bewbs FTL!
eldee @ Oct 10th 2009 12:18AM
seems like putting the cart before the horse... they don't even know if the game is going to bomb or not.
CH3BURASHKA @ Oct 10th 2009 12:23AM
Maybe it's real Dante; he's back from the GRAVE!!!
rTwelve @ Oct 10th 2009 12:26AM
I WANNA FEEL GOOD
Filthy Assistant @ Oct 10th 2009 12:53AM
That scene is awesome if you have the sound off. On... Not so much.
Xero @ Oct 10th 2009 12:44AM
Maybe he will write in another Halle Berry sex scene.
Discotheque @ Oct 10th 2009 12:59AM
Heath Ledger was really good (should have won Oscar) in that film. But yeah...the most memorable part of the film...bewbs.
DubiousCow @ Oct 10th 2009 1:39AM
Is Heath Ledger lending his vocal talent in Dante's Inferno?
Dr. Bradwart @ Oct 10th 2009 2:35AM
Please, tell me you're not serious...
Cerpin Taxt @ Oct 10th 2009 1:40AM
Major insult to Dante for getting the screenwriter of Monster's Ball to remake it. At least, like, get BOTH co-writers of the movie.
neilkevin09 @ Oct 10th 2009 5:22AM
Really cool episode.. I think more game companies need to make apparent who is writing their games from the onset, for that to happen!
nahrungserganzung
1251 @ Oct 10th 2009 2:20AM
Shows how much Joystiq knows about actual theater.
thank you for telling us who is able to write the better stories, assholes.
Yaanu @ Oct 10th 2009 10:58PM
Monster's Ball is his only writing credit, and I don't believe the script was nominated for anything.
deluded spider @ Oct 10th 2009 3:48AM
I don't care how prestigious the writer sounds, because the game's design is completely bland and the voice acting in the trailers is hilariously awful.
Aerothorn @ Oct 10th 2009 6:01AM
Oh man, Monster's Ball was awful.
Ben @ Oct 10th 2009 8:46AM
Wow, I'm not sure I've read something so badly written on Joystiq for a while.
Monster's Ball was great, and how brilliant that writers from the movie industry are crossing over to games? It's about time we had some proper professionals penning stories.
And just because he wrote Monster's Ball, why does that ignite scepticism of his ability to write a good script for Dante's Inferno? Just because you write a Playstation-related post, I don't immediately assume your skill at reporting on an Xbox-related matter is bad.
Batzarro @ Oct 10th 2009 12:10PM
I think it was supposed to be funny.
Ben @ Oct 11th 2009 11:33AM
Shame it wasn't, really.
Unregistered @ Oct 13th 2009 10:17AM
So they got a LOSER to write the script.
The Winner's to expensive eh?
Batzarro @ Oct 10th 2009 12:03PM
I think this will end up being like Van Helzing.
Grimcicle @ Oct 10th 2009 1:06PM
Just like there was a lot overlap when Christopher Nolan, co-writer/director of Memento, decided to co-write/direct an action film about a man dressing up as a giant bat who beats up criminals and bombs around in a tank.
Zombie Jesus @ Oct 10th 2009 1:15PM
EA is making a casual version of this, "Dante's Monster Balls Inferno" it's a rythm action dancing game, where well the title says it all.
Vladeon @ Oct 10th 2009 1:28PM
So, correct me if I'm wrong, but what you're trying to tell me is that somehow, the game developers think that it's better to take the writing of someone who wrote monster's ball, which had terrible writing, over one of the most influential Italian writers ever? I'm sorry, but I think i would stick to the source material and just adapt the game around Dante Alighieri's epic story.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills here.
Grimcicle @ Oct 10th 2009 3:09PM
He's writing the script for the game, adapting it from the source material. With EVERY adaptation, a writer is brought in to script the story for that particular medium. The reason being that every form of narrative entertainment (film, stage, video games, novels, etc.) has its own structure and set of rules. What works for one medium isn't going to work in another medium without some rewriting.
Plus, when a book is adapted to film for instance, you don't see the actors, director and the crew standing around all with copies of that book in hand. Why? Because it just wouldn't work that way.
OmegaNemesis28 @ Oct 11th 2009 3:01AM
I'll take Uncharted 1 & 2's writer over this 'academy award nominee' writer ANY day.
SAL @ Oct 14th 2009 2:30PM
Monster's Ball is an excellent film you guys should watch. It was the first movie of Heath Ledger where he displayed his acting chops...yeah yeah...there's a shot of Billy Bob's balls but c'mon..why do you want to look at a 50 year old man's crumpety testicles when there's a hot banging naked halle berry on top of him?
bingie420 @ Oct 12th 2009 6:53PM
you mean to tell me that you have a movie with a star like f'ing Hallie Berry and the only thing you can remember is Billy Bob Thorton's testicles.