Successful and acclaimed film adaptations of video games are pretty rare, but video game-to-TV projects are even sparser, as either successes or failures. One of the most popular video games of all time, the PC megahit Myst, is on the way to possibly getting its own TV series, as Hulu has beat out other buyers in acquiring the presumably massive project. Let’s hope that the potential series doesn’t start out the way I did with that game, by not reading the instructions and walking around for hours without understanding anything.
Myst, which was scooped up by Legendary Television last year, is being developed by Sinister Six and Amazing Spider-Man 2 producer Matt Tolmach and in-demand screenwriter Evan Daugherty, who penned the scripts for Divergent and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Those aren’t exactly the deepest flicks out there, but we can presume the Myst series will be comparably large in scope and budget.
According to Deadline, Myst will be like the Brøderbund video game in mashing together elements of science fiction and fantasy as it delves into the origins behind the mysterious island setting. (Insert six seasons worth of Lost jokes here.) It will follow a man who wakes up on the island with no sense of his own identity, and no clue where he is or how he got there. Clues, puzzles, books and transporting between worlds abound.
It’ll be interesting to see how the relatively light storyline gets stretched out to bring in audiences, and how much additional action and mystery will get added in. It’s highly unlikely that the show would use the same first-person perspective that the game utilizes, but that would make for a distinct approach to storytelling. In any case, if the initial outing of Myst becomes a success, there are four more Myst games to use for narrative fodder. And it could lead to an entirely different vein of game adaptations in the future that shoot for headier subject matter over guns, guts and glory.
Legendary TV brought Tolmach and Daugherty to the table not long after acquiring the game’s TV rights, and their pitch was delivered to several different places before Hulu took the prize. They commissioned a script from Daugherty, who is also behind the proposed Tomb Raider remake, and the quality of his script could lead to a straight-to-series order from the streaming service.
Hulu is definitely taking steps to push itself into the same conversations as Netflix and Amazon, with possibly award-garnering aspirations. While they’ve bolstered their non-original programming with that huge Seinfeld deal and the Fear the Walking Dead deal, they’re also getting into more prestigious fare beyond their lineup of goofy comedies. They have the James Franco-starring 11/22/63 coming, as well as the Jason Katims-created The Way and Jason Reitman’s Casual.
Do you guys think Myst will work as a TV show, or is it better suited for the movies, where it was originally supposed to end up?
