Posts Tagged ‘Halo’

Although video games are the second largest competitor with movies in the entertainment industry, behind only television, movie adaptations of video games haven't been received very well thus far. Why is that?

Disclaimer - We have painted video games with an overly large brush, and trust us that we have done so begrudgingly. However, because perception always takes time to catch up to reality when it comes to public opinion, and perhaps in this case critical and executive opinion as well, we felt it was necessary in order to make things more explicable.

It has been interesting to note how critics have commented on the source material for the recently released Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. As most of you know by now, if you didn’t know before the release, the film is based off of a video game of the same name. And like with most films that are adapted from video games critics have pointed out the various congruencies between the two productions, such as story structure and character construction. In the case of Prince of Persia, these two things along with the aesthetics of the movie’s action sequences have been said to resemble (some say closer than others) their corresponding elements in the source material, but the intriguing thing is that the comments written that illuminate these similarities usually paint them as being faults. Anymore if the reception of a movie can be compared to the manner that video games are received (though there are many inherent differences between the mediums) it is taken to be as a deficiency or imperfection. Why should it be considered an automatic negative that a movie resembles its source material if that source material is a video game? Before we get into any sort of discussion that might explain a possible discrimination against video games, let us first try to discover why it is that so many critics find the storytelling techniques of video games and movies to be so incompatible. Read the rest of this entry »

Even flops like "Street Fighter" gave us greatness like Van Damme fighting Raul Julia

IGN.com has released a guide of theirs that details a long list of nearly 50 “in development” projects that hope to become film adaptations of various videogames. Some projects have been sitting on the back-burner for years, others lay dormant and then spring to life every so often with new rumors, and some seem to have a legitimate shot at going into production fairly soon. Of the list of games hoping to become movies, some of the more popular name brands listed are World of Warcraft, Metal Gear Solid, Call of Duty, Bioshock, Devil May Cry, Fallout, Gears of War, God of War, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Splinter Cell, Tekken, and more.

Videogame adaptations have endured some success but also a lot of failure. For every Resident Evil and Silent Hill there’s a Doom and a Hitman, not to mention House of the Dead, Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., Mortal Combat, Tomb Raider, etc., etc., etc. The general lack of success of these adaptations has and might continue to scare away studios from financing certain very promising projects, however some mega-popular franchises like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and World of Warcraft might be too tempting to pass up.

What are the games that you want to see turned into a movie? Are there any that aren’t in any kind of development that you’d like to see get some attention? Tell us by posting your thoughts below.

Director/Producer/Writer Peter Jackson

The Hollywood Reporter has given out its own Producers of the Year Award to Peter Jackson, his lifelong partner Fran Walsh, and Carolynne Cunningham, for their work on District 9, which released earlier this year.

The Hollywood Reporter’s website includes an extended article detailing the story behind Jackson and his team’s efforts to first produce a film adaptation of the Halo videogame, and how that project turned into the independently financed District 9. The main reason why the Halo project was canned was because Jackson insisted that it be directed by first-time feature film director Neill Blomkamp, which then financiers Universal and 20th Century Fox were not comfortable with. The article then goes on to talk about Jackson’s involvements as director and producer for The Lovely Bones, set to release January 15.

In Other News…

Today NBC Universal inched closer towards being sold by General Electric (which holds an 80% stake in the company) to Comcast. The two came to an agreement on NBC Universal’s worth, which they estimate to be at around $30 billion. Under the deal that is being proposed, Comcast would buy a 51% share of GE’s stake.

However, Vivendi (who owns the remaining 20%) has the option of vetoing the deal if it wishes too. Also, the FCC withholds the right to undercut the deal under anti-trust grounds if it so chooses, so nothing appears set in stone.

Source: Variety