Rumor: Gears of War film troubled, scaled back

by David Hinkle on Apr 6th 2010 1:30PM

If you've been impatiently waiting for the complex narrative and endearing characters of Gears of War to be captured in a Hollywood blockbuster, a report by the LA Times is set to disappoint you. Citing "sources" familiar with the matter, it claims director Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard and the Underworld movies) may be abandoning the director's chair in favor of thriller "Nocturne."

The production studio is also allegedly looking to make significant cuts to the project. What was planned to be an epic, $100 million endeavor is now said to be shrinking, calling for a rewrite of Chris Morgan's initial work on a Stuart Beattie script. Wiseman hasn't officially bailed yet, though the LA Times posits that it's likely to happen in the future.

On the plus side, if Wiseman ditches the project, that could put The Rock back in the running to play Marcus Fenix. Surely we've all forgotten about Doom by now ...

Source

Tags: epic-games, game-to-film, gears-of-war, gears-of-war-movie, len-wiseman, Microsoft, movie, movies, new-line, rumor, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (72)

If we're going to be completely accurate I think it's safer to say the film was glitchy.

1) I'll be happy for Wiseman to not direct this film.
2) The Rock sucks at acting. He would make a terrible Fenix.
3) Need GoW movie.

After the tooth fairy shenanigans, moreso indeed.

Making Sony franchises into movies shouldn't be hard. There is that little company called Sony Pictures Entertainment, after all...

If "Nocturne" has Kate Beckinsale in tight leather, then I've lost any and all interest in a Gears of War movie.

I suppose it's nice to finally pop my Joystiq comment cherry. Please downvote to oblivion.

it was kind of nice to have that image in my head twice though. UPVOTE I SAY!

I'm with Space. You can't have too much of Beckinsale in leather.

Great... now I have to go watch Underworld again.

Complex narrative?

Here's the joke

Here's your head.

Complex narrative = THEY'RE SIINKING CITIES WITH A GIANT WORM!

Yeah, the sarcasm didn't seem so obvious to me..

Good enough

Especially considering the characters WERE endearing

I'd rather they spent the time and money making Gears 3 better anyway.

Less running / gunning through caves, more city levels, get the guy who made the music from Gears 1 back, and longer / crazier action in the levels.

He actually did some of the music in GoW2, but right now he's working on Aliens: Colonial Marines according to IMDB.

Well I'm glad the guy has got some more work, but I'd still like to see the background music in Gears 3 move back to how it was in Gears 2. I like "epic" soundtracks as much as the next guy, but sometimes something gets lost when you try too hard with the orchestral music.

I'm definitely all for more and longer action in levels, but I was never a huge fan of the music in either game. Go load up that fountain level from Gears 1 and listen to Coheed & Cambria's "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3" (the song, although the whole album is great) while youre fighting dozens of grubs and tell me they shouldnt contract Co&Ca to do the music for Gears 3. Actually, no, don't tell me that. Because I wouldn't believe you anyway.

ok even though I do agree a bit :P

he could pull off an eddie murphy and play every role in the game

How come this happens with EVERY game movie that has a chance of becoming big? It's like the movie studios are all for it, all exciting, all "This'll be huge!", but then they actually get in bed with the thing, realize they might be ga(y)mers, panic and back out. Come on, guys, you just need to accept that being into games' narratives is okay. No one will judge you.

They don't care about anything that's game-related until they hear "Jerry Bruckheimer".

And when they heard that name, they gave $150 million for Prince of Persia movie.

"ga(y)mers"

are you insinuating that all GAMERS are attracted to the same gender?

Of course not. :X I was just trying to make the metaphor a little more obvious.

And to make things COMPLETELY obvious:

It's supposed to be a metaphor that links the behavior of some gay teens (those who are not truthful to themselves about their comfort with their own sexuality, and who become involved in sexual relationships, only to realize their discomfort just as their partner is dropping his underwear) to the behavior of movie studios who take on game adaptations. Kinda like, "Oh god oh god, I'm making a game adaptation what am I doing oh god this is too much!" *grabs clothes and flees the room*

Just, you know. A movie producer instead of that dude with frosted hair and an astounding eye for color.

Starring Nolan North, Nolan North, and.... Nolan North!

So far, we've had Halo, BioShock, and now this 'run into trouble' and be either canned or damaged.

Of course, looking at filmmaking masterpieces like Doom, BloodRayne...maybe it's for the best.

I think that after District 9 they need to give Blomkamp another shot at making a Halo movie.

If I recall, the main roadblock was Microsoft demanding 10% of all ticket sales and like 10 million dollars up front from the studio who produced it.

I'm officially sold on anything Bloomkamp makes, especially a Halo movie. I was apprehensive when they first announced him as the director of the Halo movie, but after D9, I can't imagine anyone else doing it.

It's the perfect fit.

"...complex narrative and endearing characters of Gears of War to be captured in a Hollywood blockbuster..."

Oh, Joystiq. Your subtle humor is your charm.

That was about as subtle as a shotgun blast to the face.

a la Gears of War

Given how nerfed the shotgun was in Gears 2, I think my point remains valid. :P

ITS GONNA BE SMALLER, CLEANER AND LESS BAD ASS

That statement is a little creepy when I think about your username.

Is cleaner really the opposite of badder?

Still, +1.

well gooder just sucked

How hard can this be to make? You've got characters, art direction, a simple story, good guys, bad guys - its all there for the taking

Normally I'd be the last person to say just film it all on green screen and don't even try doing anything fancy with the story, but this would be perfect for it. Just have a simple good guys versus bad guys film with some Marcus redemption stuff, and A LOT of curb stomping and grub scratching

I guess they couldn't get the cover mechanics quite right

You would think that by now that the stiffs who are in charge of making these movies realise that Game-Movie things never work.
I can't think of a single good film to be based on a game. Ever.

You didn't see the Mario Bros film?

Lets not mention that one.

MORTAL KOMBAT
*cue techno music*

Street Fighter the legend of chun li?

Prince of Persia?

The first Street Fighter movie, with Jean Claude Van Damme as Guile and Raul Julia as M. Bison was a cinematic masterpiece.

Agreed

The recent one though was beyond bad though

It wasn't even good in an ironic way, it was shockingly bad

Um. Forgive me for pointing out the elephant in the room, but I believe the Resident Evil franchise would like a word with you.

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Rumor: Gears of War film troubled, scaled back

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Posted: Apr 6th 2010 1:33PM RudyHuxtable said

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