Game-to-movie adaptations coming your way
"The flesh of fallen angels..."
If those words strike a chord in you, than you're as big a fan of the Max Payne video game series as I am. In fact, last week there were major announcements regarding film adaptations for 2 of my all-time favourite games: Max Payne and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
----------------------------
First up, Max Payne:
Turns out Mark Wahlberg is in talks to play the grim, monologuing detective...
Here's how The Hollywood Reporter comments on the matter:
Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in "Max Payne," Fox's adaptation of the hit video game. John Moore is directing.
The story centers on a DEA agent named Max Payne who is framed for the murder of a fellow agent and finds himself in the middle of a mob war, which gives him a chance to avenge the Mafia slayings of his wife and child.
Beau Thorne wrote the most recent draft.
Julie Yorn and Scott Faye are producing.
Wahlberg, shooting Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones," recently wrapped "The Happening," M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi thriller for Fox. He is repped by Endeavor and Leverage Management.
I'm actually pretty happy with Wahlberg's casting. He's got the character's look and he was very good in The Departed, so I'd certainly buy him again as an angry, vengeful cop.
I'm not so sure about the plot, however. Mafia gang war? Zzzzzzz... Personally I'd stick closely to the first game's storyline, involving a gang turf war (naturally) and, more importantly, a psychopath-creating drug called Valkyrie.
Then again, adapting Max Payne for the big screen is a kind of bizarre self-referential exercise in its own right. The game's big selling point was that it put the player in their very own overblown John Woo action movie, complete with the Matrix's "bullet time" - which you could harness to get out of tough shoot 'em up situations.
It was incredible fun to have those powers at your disposal as you sprinted and shot your way through a noir-ish tale that also threw in multiple Norse Mythology references for good measure.
As much as I'm excited by the throught of seeing Max Payne on the big screen, I am concerned that it's going to be received by critics and audiences as cheesy and derivative... when that was largely the point of the game.
At the same time, if the film makers take a step away from the source material, and tone things down, well, then the film will be just another personality-less cop action flick.
It's very much a catch-22 situation. Here's hoping the film makers are able to find a balance.
----------------------------
The week's second announcement regarded Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
I'm pleased to report that Michael (Transformers, Bad Boys, Armageddon) Bay WILL NOT be directing the film version of this classic action-adventure game. I never could stomach the thought of Mr Fast Cars, Explosions & Sweaty Hotties handling a project that, though action-packed, actually has quite a bit of soul and tenderness to it.
Now it looks like Mike Newell, the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Four Weddings and a Funeral, could be wiggling down into the director's chair.
Here's what Variety has to say on the matter:
Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have made an offer to Mike Newell to direct "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," a live-action feature based on the videogame.
Newell, who last ventured into franchise fare with "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," met execs at the studio to discuss the project this week, and negotiations are expected to begin shortly.
The vidgame has spawned six installments and several spinoffs, prompting studio hopes that the project will have tentpole potential.
"Prince of Persia" has a script by Jeffrey Nachmanoff ("The Day After Tomorrow") and vidgame creator Jordan Mechner.Disney, whose topper, Oren Aviv, will put as many as seven films in production between now and March, recently decided not to race to get "Prince of Persia" into production until labor issues are resolved.
Newell most recently helmed "Love in the Time of Cholera."
Prince of Persia is apparently being set up as producer Jerry Bruckheimer's big follow-up franchise to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.
What I'm personally hoping is that Prince of Persia pushes the boundaries of stunt work, NOT CGI. I want to see acrobatic combat, wire work... and first prize would definitely have to be free-running stunt work (like in Casino Royale's Madagascar scenes). Wouldn't it be mind-blowing if Prince of Persia's wall-running and breathtaking leaps were 100% real?
If those words strike a chord in you, than you're as big a fan of the Max Payne video game series as I am. In fact, last week there were major announcements regarding film adaptations for 2 of my all-time favourite games: Max Payne and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
----------------------------
First up, Max Payne:
Turns out Mark Wahlberg is in talks to play the grim, monologuing detective...
Here's how The Hollywood Reporter comments on the matter:
Mark Wahlberg is in negotiations to star in "Max Payne," Fox's adaptation of the hit video game. John Moore is directing.
The story centers on a DEA agent named Max Payne who is framed for the murder of a fellow agent and finds himself in the middle of a mob war, which gives him a chance to avenge the Mafia slayings of his wife and child.
Beau Thorne wrote the most recent draft.
Julie Yorn and Scott Faye are producing.
Wahlberg, shooting Peter Jackson's "The Lovely Bones," recently wrapped "The Happening," M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi thriller for Fox. He is repped by Endeavor and Leverage Management.
I'm actually pretty happy with Wahlberg's casting. He's got the character's look and he was very good in The Departed, so I'd certainly buy him again as an angry, vengeful cop.
I'm not so sure about the plot, however. Mafia gang war? Zzzzzzz... Personally I'd stick closely to the first game's storyline, involving a gang turf war (naturally) and, more importantly, a psychopath-creating drug called Valkyrie.
Then again, adapting Max Payne for the big screen is a kind of bizarre self-referential exercise in its own right. The game's big selling point was that it put the player in their very own overblown John Woo action movie, complete with the Matrix's "bullet time" - which you could harness to get out of tough shoot 'em up situations.
It was incredible fun to have those powers at your disposal as you sprinted and shot your way through a noir-ish tale that also threw in multiple Norse Mythology references for good measure.
As much as I'm excited by the throught of seeing Max Payne on the big screen, I am concerned that it's going to be received by critics and audiences as cheesy and derivative... when that was largely the point of the game.
At the same time, if the film makers take a step away from the source material, and tone things down, well, then the film will be just another personality-less cop action flick.
It's very much a catch-22 situation. Here's hoping the film makers are able to find a balance.
----------------------------
The week's second announcement regarded Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
I'm pleased to report that Michael (Transformers, Bad Boys, Armageddon) Bay WILL NOT be directing the film version of this classic action-adventure game. I never could stomach the thought of Mr Fast Cars, Explosions & Sweaty Hotties handling a project that, though action-packed, actually has quite a bit of soul and tenderness to it.
Now it looks like Mike Newell, the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Four Weddings and a Funeral, could be wiggling down into the director's chair.
Here's what Variety has to say on the matter:
Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have made an offer to Mike Newell to direct "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," a live-action feature based on the videogame.
Newell, who last ventured into franchise fare with "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," met execs at the studio to discuss the project this week, and negotiations are expected to begin shortly.
The vidgame has spawned six installments and several spinoffs, prompting studio hopes that the project will have tentpole potential.
"Prince of Persia" has a script by Jeffrey Nachmanoff ("The Day After Tomorrow") and vidgame creator Jordan Mechner.Disney, whose topper, Oren Aviv, will put as many as seven films in production between now and March, recently decided not to race to get "Prince of Persia" into production until labor issues are resolved.
Newell most recently helmed "Love in the Time of Cholera."
Prince of Persia is apparently being set up as producer Jerry Bruckheimer's big follow-up franchise to the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.
What I'm personally hoping is that Prince of Persia pushes the boundaries of stunt work, NOT CGI. I want to see acrobatic combat, wire work... and first prize would definitely have to be free-running stunt work (like in Casino Royale's Madagascar scenes). Wouldn't it be mind-blowing if Prince of Persia's wall-running and breathtaking leaps were 100% real?
Comments
"For the Horde!"