Variety reports that former Marvel Studios head, Avi Arad, has optioned the rights to produce a Mass Effectmovie from Electronic Arts. Arad, whose production company is already working on a film adaptation of Lost Planet, is considered the driving force behind the renaissance of Marvel's comic properties in Hollywood.
Should this rumor pan out, there remain numerous hurdles between acquiring film rights and actually getting said film made ... let alone up on the big screen. Arad will need a screenwriter, for one – preferably someone who's respectful of the source material. He's already got David "Solid Snake" Hayter on Lost Planet; who would you like to see pen the Mass Effect script, in a dream situation?
Warning! There's an expletive-filled trailer below for the film Nerdcore Rising. It also features people binge drinking Yoo-Hoo, just so we have full disclosure. If you haven't heard about the movie before, it's a documentary that follows MC Frontalot on his first national tour as he goes from South Carolina to last year's PAX, where he was captured on film by our own Christopher Grant.
Nerdcore, which is trying hard to become its own genre of music, features songs about everything from Dungeons & Dragons to 8-bit video games, and the film explores what that's all about with Frontalot, his band, and several other Nerdcore artists. The film premiered at SXSW in Austin earlier this year, but PAX gets the goodness of the first-ever west coast showing of the flick this Saturday at 4pm. Head below the break to see the special PAX trailer for the movie, created by director Negin Farsad and MC Frontalot himself.
The Spy Hunter movie based on the Midway arcade hit that we talked about more than a year ago is hitting the skids, crashing through the guardrail, and plummeting off the cliff that is called "development hell" in Hollywood. Looks like director Paul Anderson (W.S., not Thomas) is being taken off the project, which will spin it out into limbo.
You can also read Latino Review's review of the script right here. They seemed to like it, saying it was better than The Fast and the Furious 3 ... which ain't saying much. In fact, the best thing Spy Hunter has spawned as far as filmed entertainment goes is the Pontiac commercial above. If any of the game sequels had looked like that, we might still be playing them.
Now, we ask you... is this such a bad thing? Sure it had Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attached to it, and John Woo was supposed to direct it at one point. However, it's had a slew of different writers and now with two director replacements, do we really need a Spy Hunter movie? We hope no one hits "Continue" on the Spy Hunter movie, and that it just dies a merciful death. What say you?
Comic Con 08 attendees were recently treated to a new, two-minute trailer for the upcoming CGI motion picture Resident Evil: Degeneration. The series' previous, lackluster live action installments enveloped our hard hearts in a thick shell of apprehension towards the new movie when it was first announced -- but after seeing it in action, consider said shell shucked. Not only does it look gorgeous, but it appears Leon and Claire will be voiced by Paul Mercier and Alyson Court, the two characters' voice actors from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Veronica, respectively.
It's also full of valuable Pro-Tips for those playing along at home! Shoot them in the head, eh? Thanks, Leon!
Variety has confirmed that a film adaptation of Lost Planet is indeed in the works via Warner Bros. The script will be penned by X-Men and Watchmen scribe David Hayter, also known as the voice of Solid Snake. WB and Capcom are co-financing the film, with Warner Bros. having worldwide distribution rights.
No details on the plot, but we've submitted our proposal for the film, which would feature LP main character Wayne Holden sneaking through a secret military compound on a remote island. It would be, dare we say, awesome?
Fallout 3 developer Bethesda announced via press release that it is hosting (alongside American Cinematheque and Geek Monthly) a post-apocalyptic film festival in honor of the upcoming game. The two night even starts Friday, August 22 at Aero Theater in Santa Monica, CA.
Three films will be shown each night. For Friday, August 22: Wizards, Damnation Alley, A Boy and His Dog. For Saturday, August 23 (The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man, Twelve Monkeys), both nights starting at 7:00 pm. We think they're missing a few good choices -- namely, Six String Samurai, Mad Max and The Adventures of Pluto Nash.
The real kicker is a "special Fallout 3 giveaway" for every attendee. We're expecting a poster or tote bag, but who knows? Maybe Bethesda is offering free Rad Away for all. Tickets go on sale July 25.
Don't misinterpret that headline -- David Hayter, who has voiced the role of Solid Snake since ... well, since Solid Snake could speak, doesn't need you to submit your fan fiction to help piece together the plot of the supposedly upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie (though we're sure he would find your homemade Otacon/Sniper Wolf erotic literature wildly fascinating).
According to a recent IMDB post from Hayter himself, he needs fans of his work and of Kojima's epic series to email a certain Sony Pictures rep and politely suggest that Hayter be the one to pen the film's script. He's got the credentials to do so, having written screenplays for the first two X-Men movies and the upcoming adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen. We can also assume that he's played the game he would be adapting, giving him a significant edge over most screenwriters of ludologically-inspired films.
Variety reports that the live-action Turok movie is not being handled by Disney, which publishes the video game series through its Touchstone Pictures label. Instead, the film rights are being handled by Classic Media, the same IP management firm that handled the direct-to-DVD Turok animated film.
What does this mean for the dinosaur hunter's big-screen debut? Variety's Ben Fritz warns us that without the backing of a major studio like Disney, it's likely that Turok won't be on par with major film adaptations like the upcoming Prince of Persia and BioShock flicks. Let's just keep it out of the hands of Uwe Boll, shall we?
A biopic about Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell has been picked up by Paramount Pictures, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached to star, reports Variety. Although we feel "attached to star" is indicative of DiCaprio taking on the role of Bushnell himself, we guess it's equally likely he could star as Atari co-founder Ted Dabney or a paddle from Pong!
Bushnell is also known for founding Chuck E. Cheese. The film, currently titled Atari, will be produced by DiCaprio's Appian Way.
Bruce Willis is in talks to star in the upcoming Kane and Lynch film adaptation, reports Variety. Willis will play Adam "Kane" Marcus. That's one-half of the rumor from back in November 2007 that said Billy Bob Thornton was in talks for the role of Lynch. According to the Variety piece, the filmmakers are still looking for Lynch, with shooting to begin before the end of the year. The movie will be directed by Simon Crane, based on a script by Kyle Ward.
Following the Cannes Film Festival this past week, Bloomberg Japan is reporting that Capcom might be looking to capitalize on its hottest video game properties through various film deals. The strategy, according to Bloomberg, would closely resemble one struck by Marvel Comics years ago, where movie studios sign off on various properties, such as the already-established Resident Evil series, and potential silver-screen newcomer Devil May Cry.
Capcom reportedly was approached by several movie studios to license out their properties. According to Capcom president Haruhiro Tsujimoto, the company hopes to announce more concrete plans in the near future. Mega Man, anyone? Here's hoping.
The Castlevania film adaptation is stepping back into the limelight, and it's bringing a rather bizarre friend with him. Crystal Sky Pictures has signed a "$200 million theatrical slate financing deal" with Grosvenor Park to produce five films, according to Variety, with two of those being Castlevania and -- no, really! -- Pac-Man.
Originally penned by Paul W.S. "I didn't make Boogie Nights" Anderson (Resident Evil), Castlevania was put on hold during the writer's strike. The adaptation is still being co-produced by Rogue Pictures. Crystal Sky Pictures is also producing the Tekken film with Sony's Screen Gems.
If anyone's curious, here's our pitch for Pac-Man: The Film:
It's the year 2185. Human life has been all but eradicated, and sole survivors scramble to collect resources in a labyrinthine cave of unknown secrets. Using their spherical harvesting pods, each team takes a turn gathering. But something goes horribly wrong as one expedition team gets trapped and is forced to finish its mission while running away from haunting memories of the past...
Gears of War film producer Wyck Godfrey has told Coming Soon that the production company is shooting for a Summer 2010 release of the video game adaptation. Said Godfrey: "We've got our script on and a director we're about to attach. We'll hopefully make that early next year for the summer of 2010."
The script was written by Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean), who recently said in an interview that the production will likely be heavy on green screen usage, à la 300. The Gears of War film will be released by New Line Cinema, with CliffyB as executive producer. You should probably get in line now, you've only got 24 to 27 months before this Romantic Comedy of 2010 marches into theaters.
Would you watch a film about a teenager who becomes obsessed with an arcade game? No? How about if the game is "actually an evil game that posses [his] friend ... and takes over his life."
If that sounds more appealing, you may want to pay attention to "Altar of the Unmanned," an indie film that begins shooting this week at New Hampshire's iconic Funspot arcade. If the movie's premise sounds familiar, it might be because it's reminiscent of Polybius, the rumored (and debunked) Tempest clone that's said to cause intense nightmares and interest from government agents. The film is the second feature for director Mike May, who says he was inspired to shoot at Funspot after seeing The King of Kong.
If you're in the Weirs Beach, NH area, the film crew is looking for extras to play arcade patrons starting on Saturday, March 29. Extras won't get paid, but they will get a film credit for basically standing around and playing arcade games all day. Not a bad gig if you ask us.
Okay, we're exaggerating bit -- all he did was state his interest in getting Kurt Wimmer to write and possibly direct the film. Wimmer's primary writing/directing credit is the 2002 quazi-cult classic "Equilibrium", whose 35% aggregate rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn't exactly fill us with confidence -- unless compared to the works of a particularly infamous game-to-movie adapter, whose 4% career average reminds us that Columbia Pictures could do much, much worse.
