Feature : Games To Movies

IN ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT (GOING GOLD)

HITMAN: AGENT 47                                        (27/02/2015)                     

This is the first game on this list and it’s already a reboot. In 2007 Hitman came out starring Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4.0) and was not received well (14% on Rotten Tomatoes). Now the studio is trying again with Hitman: Agent 47 with a new director and cast. Initially the late Paul Walker (The Fast and Furious) was attached to play our silent assassin, but upon his tragic death the studio went searching for a new lead. They took on Rupert Friend (Homeland) to lead the film and they got Spock himself Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) as the main villain of the movie.

I’m feeling quite indifferent on this movie, but there are some things that look fairly positive. On the surface getting the same producers and writers from the first movie can seem like a bad move. Hopefully they learn from their mistakes from the first one and give us the character we know and love. The last movie also kind of dropped off the radar so it doesn’t seem to jarring that we are getting a reboot 8 years on.

WARCRAFT                                                         (11/03/2016)

Initially planned to hit theatres on December 18 2015, it was pushed back to its current release date in the event that Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens would be released on the same day. The film apparently will concentrate on the separate sides of both the Alliance and the Horde. The director Duncan Jones (Moon) has described the film as “Avatar and Lord of the Rings at the same time”. The film finished filming around May which gives the film approximately 20 months of post-production which can only make the film look better. The cast is made up of talented actors but not recognisable ones. On the Alliance side we have Ben Foster (Lone Survivor) as Medivh, an Alliance mage. Travis Fimmel (Vikings) is playing the Alliance lead Lothar while Dominic Cooper will play King Llane. On the Horde side we have Toby Kebbell (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Durothan and Rob Kazinsky (Pacific Rim) is playing Orgrim Durothan’s right-hand (Orc?). Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption) will be playing Blackhand and Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) will be playing the Orc Garona.

I will admit that I don’t play World of Warcraft and I generally differ to some of my other friends to ask about the stories. But the closer this movie gets the more excited I get. Back when Lord of the Rings came out it was believed it would open the door to other sword-and-sandal fantasy movies coming through. But with the acclaimed success studios didn’t want to go near that genre. Now with the hobbit finishing and not being at that same level as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a small gap has been opened. I believe this movie is huge, not only for the fantasy genre but also video game movies. Out of all those actors Toby Kebbell is what excites me the most. I’m interested in watching Ben Foster and Dominic Cooper but with Kebbell’s great performance in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and upcoming projects like Fantastic Four (as Doom) and Ben-Hur this is a guy to keep an eye on. I have not seen either of Jones’ two directorial efforts, Moon and Source Code (89% & 92%, respectively on Rotten Tomatoes) and lots of people in the industry cannot talk more highly of this guy. One thing that is a minor concern is the amount of money Legendary are putting into a 20 month post production cycle and it is being released 2 weeks before Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. No matter what your thoughts are on Man of Steel the audience is going to come out in droves to see that movie. So hopefully, Warcraft can have some staying power to be monetarily successful as well as critically successful.

UNCHARTED                                                      (10/06/2016)

I did a big write up on Uncharted recently which you can read here.  But as it stands currently this movie has Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) attached to direct and Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) attached to pen the script. There is no star attached but just recently Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) was approached but turned it down.

I am incredibly excited for this movie. Like most people’s thoughts a lot depends on who they cast as the lead. But I like how they got a comedic director to try and nail down the character or Nathan Drake who is makes wise cracks constantly. I think having Boal is uncongenial but who am I to argue with an Oscar Winning screenwriter who is a big fan of the game.

ANGRY BIRDS                                                    (01/07/2016)

Even the most optimistic video game lover would have never guessed that this would actually be a thing. On top of the July 1^st date we also have a cast list of some pretty notable actors. Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Jason Sudeikis (We’re the Millers) and Josh Gad (Frozen) are just some of actors already cast. It also has Clay Kaytis and Fergal Reilly doing their directorial debut.

I am not excited for this movie; this is the definition to me of a cash grab. But in fairness when I heard they were making the Lego Movie I thought the same thing. But when that first trailer hit I was totally on board, so there is still hope readers.

SLY COOPER                                                       (2016)

Sly Cooper is being made as an animated feature from Rainmaker animation studio in cooperation with Blockade Entertainment Production Company. There’s already a animated trailer for the movie which came out in January and is slated for some time in early 2015. The official synopsis states

“Sly Cooper is a kinetic and comedic heist film that tells the story of Sly Cooper, an orphaned raccoon thief, along with his childhood friends and partners in crime, Bentley Turtle and Murray Hippo. In the film, Sly learns of his birth family’s secret legacy; that he comes from a long line of talented and international thieves. Endowed with this knowledge, Sly and his friends are catapulted into a global adventure as they race to reassemble pieces of an ancient book holding The Cooper Clan’s family secrets before it can fall into the hands of Clockwerk – an evil Russian metallic owl bent on ending the Cooper family line. From romantic Parisian backdrops to the lush mountains of China, gritty film noir meets bright, colourful graphic novels in this origin story of the world’s greatest thief-turned-hero.”

The Vice President of Development David Wohl says the film “will not be a complete origin story… Sly and his buddies are already together, though they are far from being great at what they do”.

In my opinion this film will fly under the radar and hopefully it’s good. Considering there isn’t an actual release date apart from knowing it’s coming out in 2016. On top of that we do have the trailer to give us that tone of what the film is going to feel like.

IN DEVELOPMENT (BUT GLITCHING)

ASSASSINS CREED                                            (TBD)

Up until recently this movie was in full force. First we found out that Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past) would be starring in the film as well as producing it. The movie then brought in an experienced film producer in Frank Marshall (Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark) sometime after. This also brought in New Regency Pictures to come on board as the production company behind the film. Michael Lesslie would be penning the script and was later joined by Bill Collage and Adam Cooper to rework the script both of whom have penned the script for the upcoming biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings. Lesslie has no feature film credits to his name, except he did pen a film adaptation of Macbeth which will be released in 2015 starring Fassbender. Fassbender has also brought on the Australian film director Justin Kerzel (Snowtown) who is the director of the same Macbeth adaptation.

With all the information above there are a good things still in play with this movie such as having a megastar like Fassbender attached can never hurt and obviously helps with getting the movie made. You also have a director that he has worked with, in an Shakespearian adaption no less, who he wants to work with again. The director and actor chemistry is so important and to do that in a Shakespearian film can only help. What I’m not so sure about is the amount of writers attached and that they came on so late in the process. With the announcement that 20^th Century Fox would be bringing the comic book movie Deadpool to cinemas the studio manoeuvred a few of their films which kicked Assassins Creed off it’s 2015 release date. The worrying thing is that they never gave Assassins Creed a follow up date whether it is later in 2015 or 2016. But as long as it’s still in production and the plan is to not rush it that sits better with me.

THE LAST OF US                                                (TBD)

Another video game movie adaption created by the developers at Naughty Dog. Not too much is known about this as it is in its infancy. Screen Gems has picked up the film rights which is run by Sam Raimi (Spiderman) and they have brought on Neil Druckman who wrote the story for the video game to pen the screenplay. Druckman said earlier this year that “It’s been really difficult to cut certain things out, but what I’m starting to get this is really focused narrative that’s about these two characters. Some parts will be similar to the game and some parts will be quite different”.

These comments actually make me more excited for the film. I think this shows that Druckman is really condensing and realising what the main point of the story is about to make it into a 2-hour film. I can’t talk about The Last of Us without mentioning that they have approached Massie Williams (Game of Thrones) to play Ellie.  Something which really excites me and she has expressed she wants to do it, so all that is needed to sort out scheduling and who will play Joel.

SPLINTER CELL                                                   (TBD)

This film has been quiet for a while but as far as we know the following is still going ahead. The first thing we know is that Tom Hardy (Inception) is attached to star as Sam fisher and the movie has also attached Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) to direct.

This movie sounds like it’s going to be awesome but there hasn’t been a lot of movement for some time. I love Tom Hardy as Sam Fisher, he can do the physically, and we all know he’s not afraid to put on a voice if need be (just please not Bane). In terms of Doug Linman who I referenced as directing The Bourne Identity I think he’s very talented. But what really brought me over the edge (no pun intended) was his release this year the Edge of Tomorrow. It was such a special film and hit every tone right, whether it was the action or the comedy or the danger etc. In conclusion I’m cautiously optimistic.

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER       (TBD)

This will be the LAST one!… Before it’s probably rebooted in 3 years. This movie was meant to be released September 12 this year (2014) with many of the cast and the director returning. Director Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife and star Milla Jonovich revealed earlier this year that they are expecting a child and have put the movie on hold until after the pregnancy.

“After a lot of discussion, we thought it would be in everyone’s best interest to wait till the baby is born before we set out to try and tackle a Resident Evil movie… Between the stunt work and what will become my ever-expanding belly, we didn’t think pregnancy and zombie killing are the best combo! Lol! I imagine the only thing I’ll be killing in the near future is an endless supply of cupcakes. Yikes…” – Milla Jovovich

I never personally got into the Resident Evil movies but they consistently have an audience who makes the studio money for not spending a huge amount on the film. Anderson has said this is the last film in his series, and assuming Milla Jonovich’s last as well. I can see Screen Gems wanting to start it back up a few years afterwards.

IN TALKS (LONG LOADING TIMES)

MINECRAFT                                                        (TBD)

GRAN TURISMO                                               (TBD)

DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION               (TBD)

METAL GEAR SOLID                                         (TBD)

TOMB RAIDER                                                   (TBD)

MASS EFFECT                                                     (TBD)

TEMPLE RUN                                                      (TBD)

Article by Daniel Clements