I’ve been a little curious about the Mass Effect movie but not too much. I havent ever really been interested in the games, and I have serious apprehensions about every videogame to film adaptation in existence. Either way, the fine folks at Legendary have a plan.
Source: Dark Horizons
Amongst the new information gathered is that the film will be a completely new story, not tied to the previous two games or the upcoming third one. Asked if the film is the first in a possible trilogy, the response was “We are really focused on making this a great movie, so we’ll see where it takes us. We have to get the first one right to know whether there will be more.”
Legendary is working closely with BioWare on the development of this project and they can’t give any hints about the casting other than confirming that actor Seth Green will not be playing Joker, the pilot character he voices in the game.
Only thing that could possible capture my confidence with this movie is if Paul W.S. Anderson is directing. This guy puts out a succesful Video Game movie every other year and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. I like that they plan to be original as purists and console gaming fans would probably want their heads on a frag stick for simply changing a name, let alone actually doing something unique. And since they are doing something unique, why bother with the Mass Effect license at all? Too many questions for now but hopefully this will be cleared up a bit sooner than the long in gestation Gears of War movie.
Actually Mass Effect movie WILL FOLLOW the first Mass Effect game. This news is old.
Mass Effect is an epic sci-fi saga with strong elements of moral decision making which both add to the drama and the semi-intellectual elements of the story. The games themselves are tastefully made and feature a complex Galactic-wide political and cultural context.
The storytelling in the film should focus on the drama and moral decision making aspects – that is what makes the game unique and compelling (not the action): it’s an interactive film drama. The film CAN achieve this interactivity up to a point (though in a different way).
Does this sound like a film we want Paul W.S. Anderson to direct? To me it sounds more like a film we want Paul Thomas Anderson to direct. OK that was a joke too, as this film would need strong elements of action of course, but we’re talking Scott/Spielberg/Cameron/Abrams level directors that should be handling this.
That they’re going to tell a story within the Mass Effect universe rather than re-tell the games is a very good starting sign at least.
true, but I still think that this is unlikely. Hollywood just isn’t taking video game movie *that* seriously. If they were, we’d have enjoyed a Neil Blomkamp “Halo” by now, and maybe that Gears of War movie, Kane and Lynch, Metal Gear Solid, and half a dozen other games that are stuck in the movie “development hell”.
I want a good videogame movie as much as the next guy, but I’m not confident that we’ll get the movie we want anytime soon and will have to settle for cheesy interpretations by the likes of Paul W.S. Anderson.
There are far too few videogame movies that are developed, let alone get a sequel and somehow that guy found a recipe for success with Resident Evil. Go figure.
The first Mass Effect game, I felt, had a tight storyline with a clear three acts. Mass Effect 2 maybe not so much (absence of villain, etc), so I don’t really understand the choice to do something else… As long as Sheperd is female I suppose it’s fine.
Also, reading that the WS Anderson comment was a joke made me kinda sad; I know every sequel after the mildly-diverting Resident Evil has been a scourge on the race of men, but that just means he’s not a writer. Soldier was a totally solid movie
Only thing that could possible capture my confidence with this movie is if Paul W.S. Anderson is directing.
I can only answer this one way, and for anyone that’s a gamer will understand. Mortal Kombat.
I loved that movie when I was 12! Johnny Cage bacame my favorite character because of that movie.
Christopher Lambert as Raiden. The original movie was still leaps and bounds better than the John Leonetti sequel.
Well… seeing that you don’t know squat about the game, they can butcher the whole thing for all you care.
Thats why Paul W.S. Anderson would seem like a wonderful choice.
Its like, if i didn’t give two flips about Star Wars, and I say something like.. I’ve never seen Star Wars or give a rats A about it, but i think for the first non Lucas directed expanded universe movie Uwe Boll would make an interesting director. He makes bold and intersting movies too !!!
Well said!
No, I haven’t played mass effect but it doesn’t take a mass effect enthusiast to recognize that far too many game adaptations fail to succeed at the box office. I was mostly kidding with the Paul Anderson reference but wanted to illustrate an example of a successful adaptation if not particularly faithful to the source or well-received by fans. I’d love to see some faithful adaptations of some great gaming stories Luke Metal Gear Solid and Kane and Lynch but my opinion is that it will still take some time before a Neil Blomkamp or a Guillermo Del Toro make them happen.
Mass Effect appears to be an especially daunting project to approach but I’m right with you hoping a talented person comes along and steers this project in the right direction
Really happy also that they are going with an original story for the movie. The Mass Effect universe is so rich it won’t be a problem. I just hope we get to see some cameos (I really want to seen Garrus on the big screen).
Paul W.S. Anderson directing anything is a bad idea but that’s my opinion of the guy, I just hate his movies (not all but most of them) but they are profitable to Studios so he might doing it.
Right now I just hope this movie will happen. Halo was canceled, Gears also or very close to be, Bioshock…I don’t even know what’s going on with it. All great videogames franchises that deserve great adaptations but the studios always seem to easily get cold feet when it comes to Sci-Fi because of the cost. Anyway, we’ll see.
Although I am pleased to hear that the Mass Effect movie will be a reality, I have to disagree with the assertion that Paul W.S. Anderson directing it is a good idea. While his movies have achieved commercial success, the source material is pretty much raped in the process. However, since this movie will NOT be based on the videogames, I will assume a cautious optimism until I hear more info.