Despite the many video games that have been made into movies, there has yet to be one that has really been able to hit home with moviegoers or critics. That hasn’t stopped Hollywood from trying — there are still numerous video game movies in development. One of the most exciting is the planned adaptation of the outer space role-playing game series Mass Effect.
The film is being produced by Legendary Pictures, and many had hoped that the company would have a presentation about the project at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Ultimately that turned out to not be the case. However, Legendary did take down some of the most common questions about the project and put up responses on its website. The responses are actually dated from August, but they went up with no fanfare and went largely unnoticed until recently.
There were various questions answered in the blog entry about the “Mass Effect” movie. The important questions had to do with the story the film will take. Adapting this particular game series offers some unique challenges. The series, which has a third entry being released next year, has a general story but the way it unfolds is largely up to the player.
Generally speaking, the games deal with Commander Shepard, who is struggling against a machine race called Reapers which seek to wipe out all advanced life in the galaxy. However, the details of the story will be different for nearly every gamer; different choices have different consequences and outcomes, and even cause different characters to live or die. Players even choose whether Shepard is a male or a female.
This means writers will have to look at the spectrum of possibilities from the games and boil it down to a core story that will work in a more traditional narrative. The blog entry revealed that the movie will take its story from the first game. One question asked whether a trilogy is being planned. The answer danced around the issue somewhat, saying the focus right now was just on the first film; its success would determine what happens in the future. While that might seem to indicate “Mass Effect” will be a standalone film, that would be a very difficult thing, as each entry in the franchise has led more or less directly into its sequel rather than having a firm conclusion.
It was also revealed that Commander Shepard will be portrayed as a male. This is not unsurprising; despite the gender being an option, the character is generally shown in male persona in publicity material and artwork related to the games. The blog states that no casting has happened yet. One comment also inquired whether actor Seth Green might portray the character of Joker, whom he voiced for the games. While neither he nor any other actor has been signed, the blog answer doesn’t eliminate that possibility.
There seems to be a large amount of wiggle room for Legendary in creating the “Mass Effect” movie. Since the games created more of a living world for players to interact with than telling a set story, there is more freedom for the studio to create something that will work well as a film. The Legendary blog also pointed out the studio is working closely with game developer Bioware, something that should come as a comfort to fans.
There is no release date announced for this project as yet, but even at this early stage it is one of the most promising video game adaptations in development.
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