Here’s a fun fact: a quadruple amputee could count using their fingers and toes the number of video game movie adaptations that have received an overall positive critical response. From 1993’s Super Mario Brothers to this year’s Resident Evil: Retribution, every single one has been dismissed by reviewers, the highest rated one to date being Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which managed to get a 43% on Rotten Tomatoes. That said, while the mid-aughts had movie theaters crowded with titles like Doom, Silent Hill, Alone In The Dark, and Bloodrayne, the flow of adaptations has slowed significantly with only four titles being produced since 2009 (and two of them were in the same franchise).
But each time we start to think that the film industry’s infatuation with video games is over, we come across stories like this. Variety has learned that a movie version of the popular title Gears of War is now back in development. Based on the space marine series that began in 2006, a live-action big screen take has been in the works at New Line since 2007, but the project was put into turn around. Now it has found new life as Creative Artists Agency, which represents Epic Games, is now meeting with producers to try and move the film to a different studio.
At one point Len Wiseman was attached to helm with a script written by Stuart Beattie (Collateral, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) but it seems that Wiseman is no longer attached (Beattie is a CAA client so they will probably continue to use his take). Both Chris Morgan (Fast Five) and Billy Ray (The Hunger Games) took passes at the script as well.
The fourth installment of the Gears of War series, Gears of War: Judgment will be released on March 19, 2013.
