Video game adaptation movies have technically started to find their footing following the back-to-back successes of Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. However, while these more family-friendly projects with cute mascot characters seem to be working, movies based on more mature games are still having difficulty. One video game based movie that is hoping to end that pattern is the Metal Gear Solid movie. The film is still in very early development, and there's a lot we don't know, but franchise creator Hideo Kojima just came up with a new potential star in The Old Guard's Luca Marinelli.
In a recent post on Instagram Hideo Kojima, who has made his love of film well known in the past, responded to a question about what creators and actors have caught his attention recently. Kojima called out Luca Marinelli specifically after seeing him in both the recent Netflix action film as well as last year's Italian adaptation of Jack London's Martin Eden. Kojima thinks Mainelli could be on the verge of major stardom, and also thinks he'd look great as Metal Gear hero Solid Snake. According to Kojima...
There are many actors that I follow. Luca Marinelli recently caught my eye after watching The Old Guard and Martin Eden. He played an impressive villain in They Call Me Jeeg Robot, but I think that he will break out soon, and his popularity will increase. Also, I think if he donned a bandana, he’d be a spitting image of Solid Snake!
I can't say the thought of Solid Snake crossed my mind while watching The Old Guard, but now that Hideo Kojima has brought it up, he certainly wouldn't be a bad choice. He proved his action movie chops in the new Netflix film, and as Kojima says, throw a bandana on him, and the look would certainly work.
Of course, the role of Solid Snake is likely to be at least somewhat in demand when the time actually comes to cast the part. Oscar Isaac has stated in the past that he would love to play Snake in any future film and director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who is currently trying to make a Metal Gear Solid movie happen, has thrown his support behind the idea. But honestly, cover any actor in enough mud and give them a bandana and really anybody can look like Solid Snake.
The Metal Gear Solid movie has been in development for some time and there's no indication that the project is anywhere close to ready to start casting actors, but Jordan Vogt-Roberts certainly holds Hideo Kojima in high esteem and if the man who made Metal Gear thinks Luca Marinelli is a star in the making, you have to figure the guy would at least get an audition when the time comes.
