Sign In
Register
Help
Add Reply
QUOTE
Woo's Next Target: Metroid
by Josh Grossberg
Apr 7, 2004, 2:00 PM PT
Who knew John Woo was such a gamer?
The acclaimed action director, best known in America for helming high-octane flicks like Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2 and Paycheck, is joining forces with Nintendo to adapt its bestselling Metroid videogame franchise for the big screen.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Woo's production company, Tiger Hill Entertainment, has optioned the film rights and plans to mount Metroid as a potential blockbuster release for 2006.
Metroid is perhaps Nintendo's most popular videogame after Super Mario Bros. Like Tomb Raider, Metroid's story focuses on a female protagonist, sexy bounty hunter Samus Aran, and her epic battles against the life-sucking Metroids and their master, Mother Brain, for control of the galaxy.
There are currently seven Metroid videogame adventures on store shelves which have had cumulative worldwide sales topping $12 million. An eighth game, Metroid Prime 2, is scheduled for release for Nintendo's GameCube platform in November.
For the movie version, Woo plans to produce and direct a mega-budgeted space spectacle which remains true to the suspense and mystery of the series, while simultaneously satisfying both gamers and the general public.
"We are very fortunate that there is such an extensive amount of material to draw upon for the film due to there being so many iterations of the game over the years," Woo told the Reporter.
The movie also intends to follow the well-worn Hollywood path of introducing new audiences to the origins of a comic-book or videogame hero.
"We have to assume the mainstream audience is unfamiliar with the property," Brad Foxhoven, president of Tiger Hill and a producer on the movie, told the Reporter. "As for the rest of the film, we will stay true to the game."
Fans of Woo may be surprised to learn that he and his Tiger Hill banner are already in the gaming business. The company is in the middle of developing three original videogame titles which feature the voices and images of a number of Hollywood actors. The auteur, who back in his native Hong Kong was famed for such shoot-'em-up cult classics as The Killer, Hard-Boiled and A Better Tomorrow, intends to oversee the game's schematic designs as well as motion capture and characters. The first title is due to hit stores in late 2005, with two more set for release in 2006.
If all goes well, a Metroid movie, budgeted at well over $100 million, could be in theaters as early as 2006.
http://www.eonline.c...1,13860,00.html
by Josh Grossberg
Apr 7, 2004, 2:00 PM PT
Who knew John Woo was such a gamer?
The acclaimed action director, best known in America for helming high-octane flicks like Face/Off, Mission: Impossible 2 and Paycheck, is joining forces with Nintendo to adapt its bestselling Metroid videogame franchise for the big screen.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Woo's production company, Tiger Hill Entertainment, has optioned the film rights and plans to mount Metroid as a potential blockbuster release for 2006.
Metroid is perhaps Nintendo's most popular videogame after Super Mario Bros. Like Tomb Raider, Metroid's story focuses on a female protagonist, sexy bounty hunter Samus Aran, and her epic battles against the life-sucking Metroids and their master, Mother Brain, for control of the galaxy.
There are currently seven Metroid videogame adventures on store shelves which have had cumulative worldwide sales topping $12 million. An eighth game, Metroid Prime 2, is scheduled for release for Nintendo's GameCube platform in November.
For the movie version, Woo plans to produce and direct a mega-budgeted space spectacle which remains true to the suspense and mystery of the series, while simultaneously satisfying both gamers and the general public.
"We are very fortunate that there is such an extensive amount of material to draw upon for the film due to there being so many iterations of the game over the years," Woo told the Reporter.
The movie also intends to follow the well-worn Hollywood path of introducing new audiences to the origins of a comic-book or videogame hero.
"We have to assume the mainstream audience is unfamiliar with the property," Brad Foxhoven, president of Tiger Hill and a producer on the movie, told the Reporter. "As for the rest of the film, we will stay true to the game."
Fans of Woo may be surprised to learn that he and his Tiger Hill banner are already in the gaming business. The company is in the middle of developing three original videogame titles which feature the voices and images of a number of Hollywood actors. The auteur, who back in his native Hong Kong was famed for such shoot-'em-up cult classics as The Killer, Hard-Boiled and A Better Tomorrow, intends to oversee the game's schematic designs as well as motion capture and characters. The first title is due to hit stores in late 2005, with two more set for release in 2006.
If all goes well, a Metroid movie, budgeted at well over $100 million, could be in theaters as early as 2006.
http://www.eonline.c...1,13860,00.html
What say ye about this?
MultiQuote
