4 Game Series Ripe for a Quality Movie Adaptation
Movie adaptations seem to be a tricky thing. I don't understand why. Anytime one fails, the blame is laid on the source material and not on the filmmakers. Street Fighter and Resident Evil weren't terrible because of the games. There were good martial arts and zombie movies long before those two films. Those movies were terrible because of poor scripts, poor acting, poor casting and poor direction. Regardless, there is a wealth of great material for Hollywood to dig through and I can't think of anything better than the following four game series. My biggest consideration was the distinct flavor these series would bring that would immediately distinguish them from what's come before. I have a creeping feeling that quality video game inspired movies are in the near future. Comic book movies went through a rough period(Superman: The Movie and Batman being bright points) that lasted nearly 25 years. Video games and comic books tell a lot of similar stories through different mediums. It might take a project like Marvel Studios to really inject some quality into the genre. Nintendo Studios? Naughty Dog Studios? Time will tell.
4. Metal Gear
How has this not been picked up? It's a quality series full of top secret operatives, fantastic technology, over the top villains and insane motives. My dream choice to play Snake is a toss up between Kurt Russel(Snake Plissken was the inspiration for the hero of the game) and Michael Biehn(they ripped off a Terminator pic of Biehn for the cover to the original NES classic). Beihn was absolutely glorious in his voice work for Far Cry: Blood Dragon, so he can still act. I think the people behind the current Bond films would be a good fit for Metal Gear as they share quite a few similarities. NO RAYDEN! I think I would rather have Jar-Jar Binks make an appearance.
3. Halo
This almost needs no explanation. Halo has some of the most gorgeous art design, effective score and general sense of awe that few games(and movies) can ever hope to achieve. We already have the perfect director for the job with Neil Blomkamp. He did a short film called Halo: Landfall that was pretty good and got people excited. I think Hollywood must hate money by not going forward with a Halo film. Halo is a perennial top seller and has huge brand recognition so as long as the studios don't chase 300 million dollar budgets, this should be money in the bank.
2. Metroid
This seems like another no-brainer. There are so many ways they can approach the source material. Samus typically loses her abilites and must regain weapons and items to allow her to overcome whatever obstacles she faces. There could be a focus on discovery, exploration, survival and self-empowerment mixed with action that would be sure to keep me on the edge of my seat if quality writers and a good director are hired. I can only dream that James Cameron would drop everything to take this project. There would also be plenty of eye candy with space pirates, metroids and Samus Aran's armor and weapons. Samus is one of the better realized female leads(mainly because her being female isn't the focus) in video games and it would be awesome to see someone with his track record tackle my favorite intergalactic bounty hunter(yes, even over Boba Fett). He already did a great job with the two of the best female characters in film with Ripley and Sara Conner. This series is begging for Hollywood. Hell, Super Metroid had more character development in the opening cut-scene than many big budget blockbusters these days.
1. The Legend of Zelda
With the rise of quality and popularity of fantasy films in the past ten to fifteen years, no series is more suited to Hollywood than The Legend of Zelda. It's not hard to imagine even non game players being drawn in by the world of Hyrule. My inner geek wants John Williams on the soundtrack and Del Toro as the director. As far as the cast goes, give me a bunch of talented unknowns. With a hundred fantastic settings, hundreds of cool enemies and bosses, the always cool Triforce and Master Sword and a very strong brand recognition, it's a sure bet. I think the World of Warcraft movie will be a good litmus test for a potential Zelda film. My ultimate geekgasm is sitting in an IMAX theatre feeling the sound system rock my world as Link leaps off of Epona and clashes swords with Ganon in the midst of a huge battle outside Hyrule Castle. Cue Slash on guitar (Zelda theme).
Those are the four films that appeal to me the most, and really appear to have everything already in place. Please share your thoughts and choices in the comments.
- Scott @razeak