Games To Movies

[Blitzballer]

Destructoid have put up an article with an admirable defence of the movie translation of Super Mario in part due to its special effects, Bob Hoskins cast as Mario and a lot more things besides:

You've gotta give them credit where credit is due: while the blue screen shots are very easy to spot with my older, wiser, not-eight-years-old-and-therefore-prone-to-believe-everything-I-see-in-a-movie-is-real eyes, the FX shots have so far managed to stand the test of time. Whether we're talking about the CGI shots (like, say, Koopa and Mario disintegrating between both worlds at the very end) or the practical puppetwork (the Goombas), it's hard to complain about the quality of how the effects themselves were pulled off.

Complain all you want about Luigi's lack of mustache, but you can't deny that casting Bob Hoskins as Mario was a stroke of genius. He nails the accent, and manages to make a well-developed character out of what was essentially written as a two-dimensional cartoon. In case you didn't know, Hoskins -- who also played badass Eddie Valiant in Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- is one of the most versatile British actors still alive today. For God's sake, the man played Iago in Othello, and he had the balls to play a fatass, Italian plumber for a children's movie. And evidently, he didn't even know that Super Mario Bros was based on a video game: after already accepting the job, he went home and told his son, who promptly went ape**** and showed daddy the video game.

http://www.destructoid.com/why-the-s...9694.phtml#ext

Videogames seem the perfect fodder for Hollywood. Which games have or could work as movies in your opinion? What ones have missed the mark? What news have you heard about upcoming game to movies?

[Blitzballer]

Talking of games to movies, news today that Ubisoft are developing a computor animation studio for releasing movies and short films for the general publiic:

The Canadian government will announce it is giving Ubisoft's Montreal-based subsidiary C$8 million (around $6.8 million). The payment is part of an ongoing grant program that will see Ubisoft receive C$454 million (approximately $383.9 million) from Ottawa to create 1,000 jobs in Quebec, Canada's large, predominantly French-speaking province.

But while Ubisoft getting government handouts is nothing new--the company got $4.3 million to open a game-development "university" in 2005--the reason for the forthcoming grant reportedly is. La Presse says the money is to "permit the creation of a computer-animation studio in Montreal." The paper notes that studio would be the first of its kind in the city's history and would initially make "short films for the general public."

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6165617...ewstop;title;1

[Blitzballer]

Metal Gear Solid movie confirmed:

Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Yair Landau revealed his studio is developing the project.

"We're working with the Metal Gear guys," Landau told GameSpot following his D.I.C.E. summit keynote address in Las Vegas. "It's a very cinematic game, it really lends itself to movie telling. But the question is, 'How do you translate Snake's experience into a full arc that conforms to what audiences expect on the large screen?'"

Landau also hinted the Metal Gear Solid movie may just be the beginning. "There are other games we are looking to develop," the executive said. "We're working with one of my favorite producers right now on an idea for an EverQuest movie." The producer was apparently of such stature that Landau declined to name him. "I'll let him disclose that," he said cryptically.

Besides the forthcoming World of Warcraft film, currently in development at Warner Bros., the Metal Gear Solid movie is the highest-profile game-film project in Hollywood. Previously, that stature was held by the Peter Jackson-produced Halo adaptation, which imploded last year.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6165595...ewstop;title;2

[Saint]

The most movie ready game I've seen in a long time, besides Metal Gear, is Half-Life 2.

The game and plot themselves are already very movie like, and the premise of the reappearance of a legendary hero turning up at the paramount of despair is timeless. The only problem with this movie is setting the grounds from the original Half-Life, which is not a game that lends itself to being made into a movie.

[The Man]

I don't have any profound thoughts on this subject. I just wonder how Uwe Boll keeps getting work.

[Saint]

He signed a contract with Satan. Unfortunately, the contract was in English, so Boll didn't know that "make 100 films" wasn't the same as "make 100 good, successful films".

[The Man]

That's as good of an explanation as any, I suppose

Did you hear about those "fights" he set up with people who disliked his work? Apparently they had to go through a screening process so that if they actually had a chance of winning against him, they wouldn't be accepted

[Saint]

He's the Infraweight Boxing Champion of the World.

[Blitzballer]

Halo doesnt look like itll be made anytime soon, as studios are battling over costs:

20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures are reportedly embroiled in a brouhaha over the film version of the videogame Halo. The project fell apart a few months ago after millions had been spent on developing it.

The studios are said to be "battling over Halo's roughly $12 million in pre-production costs," according to Deadline Hollywood Daily columnist Nikki Finke.

The site claims, via sources, that "Fox is balking at splitting the costs 50-50 and claiming Uni should have asked permission prior to forking over some of those expenses."

Universal, in turn, is threatening to sue Fox to get them to pay what they say is their share of the tab. There's a whole other inside Hollywood-political dimension to it that's too long to get into and not really of that much interest to you, dear readers.

http://movies.ign.com/articles/763/763105p1.html

[Shakan'Dar]

I'd like to see movie adaptations of some Forgotten Realms games. Icewind Dale and Baldurs Gate both have movie potential in my opinion. True you'd cut out a lot of stuff, because side quests/side characters aren't too important, but the basic story lines are awesome. A Neverwinter Nights movie would be good too.

Come to think of it, I guess a lot of RPG's have good movie potential. Just look how FFVII: AC turned out.

Morrowind would make one hell of a movie.

[Everdin]

Come to think of it, I guess a lot of RPG's have good movie potential. Just look how FFVII: AC turned out.

but you gotta think most people that will get the or even watch the movies will be the gamers because they will be the ones knowing about it. also people who do not play the games will have no idea what the background story is to movie. like me i had to explain quite a few things to my parent when they decided to watch FF:AC with me. so rpg's are a little hard to make a movie of though they do have potential.

[ThroneofDravaris]

I had an argument with a friend one time when he tried to convince me that Super Mario Bros was no where near as bad as people made it out to be. He then watched it again and apologized to me the following morning.

[Dave]

You should post those on the site news instead of here

[The Man]

Originally Posted by ThroneofDravaris

I had an argument with a friend one time when he tried to convince me that Super Mario Bros was no where near as bad as people made it out to be. He then watched it again and apologized to me the following morning.

That movie would have been so much better if they had cast Ron Jeremy as Mario.

[Wander]

Game-to-film adaptations are nearly always completely ****. One of the few good ones I've seen was Silent Hill, and that wasn't spectacular.

Metal Gear should be a good film provided that the people working on it have some aptitude for directing, editing, etc.

It has also been rumored that there were plans to make a Devil May Cry film, but since no one expressed much interest, it either won't happen or Uwe Boll will end up directing it.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by Wander

Game-to-film adaptations are nearly always completely ****. One of the few good ones I've seen was Silent Hill, and that wasn't spectacular.

I generally agree with this, unfortunately the biggest downfall of most game to movie translations seems like the plots get dumbed down too much, which really leads to disappointment. In general the visuals are pretty good, but that's not enough to make up for poor scriptwriting.

I agree that the Silent Hill movie was one of the better ones, but compared to the games, the movie has a lot of pitfalls. There is going to be a second Silent Hill film though, where the producers said they wanted to make sure they fixed some of the mistakes they made in the first one, which sounds promising (they really need an alt UFO ending for the DVD!)

It has also been rumored that there were plans to make a Devil May Cry film, but since no one expressed much interest, it either won't happen or Uwe Boll will end up directing it.

I heard that there was going to be a really low-budget B-movie style DMC film, which I hope never happens. If it does I will stuff my fingers into my ears, screw my eyes shut and pretend it doesn't exist.

[Wander]

Originally Posted by Aquila

I generally agree with this, unfortunately the biggest downfall of most game to movie translations seems like the plots get dumbed down too much, which really leads to disappointment. In general the visuals are pretty good, but that's not enough to make up for poor scriptwriting.

You make a good point. These game-to-films nearly always boast glossy special effects, perhaps because the people who make the film itself do not feel the depth of the game and thus assume that the game's success is drawn merely from its good graphics etc.

Originally Posted by Aquila

agree that the Silent Hill movie was one of the better ones, but compared to the games, the movie has a lot of pitfalls. There is going to be a second Silent Hill film though, where the producers said they wanted to make sure they fixed some of the mistakes they made in the first one, which sounds promising (they really need an alt UFO ending for the DVD!)

I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with for this second Silent Hill film. If they choose to base the film's plot on one specific Silent Hill game then I think they will do well; throwing elements of all of the Silent Hill games together produced a flawed film.

Haha, and yes a UFO ending for the DVD would be cool. Perhaps for the cinema they could do "variable screenings", whereby each screening of the Silent Hill film would have an alternate ending, like with the games (though it probably wouldn't be a good idea to base the ending on the viewer's activities, haha).

Originally Posted by Aquila

I heard that there was going to be a really low-budget B-movie style DMC film, which I hope never happens. If it does I will stuff my fingers into my ears, screw my eyes shut and pretend it doesn't exist.

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good at all. I'd rather they just left Devil May Cry alone, rather than piss around making a **** film.

[Naked Gackt]

Mario Bros rocks serious ass.
I want to Silent Hill, looks average, which is rare for this kind of film.
All others pretty suck.

[Winter Nights]

Originally Posted by ThroneofDravaris

I had an argument with a friend one time when he tried to convince me that Super Mario Bros was no where near as bad as people made it out to be. He then watched it again and apologized to me the following morning.

Super Mario Bros. is just one of those "it's so bad, it's good" flicks. It's such a crappy flick, but I can't help but giggle every time I watch it.

[Naked Gackt]

True, I'd say it's a bad film, but if someone worded the question differently and asked if I enjoyed the film then the answer would be a hell yes. No doubt.