Could Video Games be Hollywoods new Comic Book movies?

I seen a post over on The Movie Blog called "Video Game Films Could Be Hollywood’s Next Comic Book Movie" the article itself is a great read, as a lot of their stuff is. This article got me thinking about what games I would love to see made into a movie and also made me come to the realisation the video game world is a relatively untapped market when it comes to adapting other media into movies.

I am not saying there is lack of video game movies, we have a lot, Resident Evil franchise, Silent Hill 1 & 2, Hitman, Max Payne and Mortal Kombat just name a few. Some of the movie have been very enjoyable while others have been so lacking in anything good that they make you want to gouge your eyes out with spoons i.e "Max Payne" which is unfortunate because Wahlberg is a one of my all time favourite movie stars.

When it comes to the Video Game world, I'm sure fellow gamers will admit there is truly countless games that could be picked and made into movie/TV series. At last count the online game World Of Warcraft has 7.6 million subscribers at last account sometime in 2013, that is potentially £68 million using the average of 1 ticket each on UK ticket price cost of £9, so it is safe to say that is looking like a healthy return already. Warcraft already has a release date along with Assassins Creed already in the works a potential 6th instalment in Resident Evil and Agent 47 currently filming.

Plus we also found out last week that Sam Raimi the genius behind "Evil Dead" had signed on to make a big screen version of Last Of Us. I personally only got around to playing Last Of Us last month an it was a bit of a let down for me as a game, however when playing through I thought "this would make a great TV Series" it has that kind of layout when you play through it, then I heard it was being made into a film I thought, yeah go for it it will make a great watch.

Just going to throw down some names off the top of my head that I think could/would make enjoyable films;
Metal Gear Solid,
Just Cause,
Mortal Kombat reboot,
Tomb Raider reboot,
Uncharted,
Quake,
Zelda,
Skyrim,
Halo,
God Of War,
Bioshock,
Duke Nukem,
Red Dead Redemption.

Teaser trailer for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire"

So we have a trailer for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" already? Who would have expected it to be here this early? I sure as heck didn't. The film isn't out until the end of the year.  

As Katniss and Peeta embark on a "Victor's Tour" of the districts, Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games. IMDB

New poster for "World War Z"

So we have a new poster for "World War Z".

New poster for "World War Z"

I've said it before, an I will say it again. If you haven't read Max Brooks' "World War Z" go out an get yourself a copy, while you're there also pick up "The Zombie Survival Guide" two of my all time favourite books. Now, we have a new poster for the adaptation of World War Z check it out below it looks pretty bad ass.

100 Movie Challenge - 01 - "Lawless"

Before I start, I would like to apologise or say you're welcome, depending on your outcome after reading this. This is my first ever attempt at a movie review and I don't really know what to do or how to do it, so I'm just going to go with the flow and hope it all works out in the end. Would love to know what you think either on Twitter @CrisMovieCorner or email us at ChrisMovieCorner@gmail.com thank you. 

So last night I started my 100 Movie Challenge, an decided to go with a film I missed last year "Lawless". I went into the film a little skeptical at the time LaBeouf wasn't my favourite actor, same goes for Jason Clarke not that I had ever seen him before I was just sceptical over their performances.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Action
Director: John Hillcoat
Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan.
Production Year: 2012
Country: United States
Certificate: 18 (UK)








John Hillcoat's latest venture into the feature film world came in the form of the Crime/Drama "Lawless", based on the novel "The Wettest County In The World" by author Matt Bondurant which is based on true events that occurred in the great depression era of America.

The film is a beautiful looking period drama with an equally beautiful lead performance from Shia LaBeouf, with brilliant performances from Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke and Gary Oldman for his few minutes of screen time.

Tom Hardy plays the overly violent and apathetic Forest Bondurant, while Jason Clarke plays the more stereotypical crazy hillbilly Howard, however LaBeouf plays the clever and quick witted Jack who is eager to prove to his brothers that he isn't the silly little brother anymore. Their new riches bring them into the eye line of crooked federal agent Charlie Rakes played by the appalling Guy Pearce who is pretty much a pantomime villain with a ridiculous look. Unfortunately for the viewers the beautiful Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikowska don't get enough screen time, they are the snippets of eye candy we get every so often.

The film is full of gruesome violence, however that is not to say that the violence over shadows the excellence of the script which was adapted by Nick Cave whose previous screenplays include "The Proposition" & "Ghost... Of The Civil Dead" both of which were also directed by John Hillcoat.

So my overall opinion on the film was that it was pretty great, easily one of my favourite films of the past few years. It was definitely one of the better films of 2012, all be it overshadowed by the big block busters like "The Avengers" or "The Dark Knight Rises". Even though I haven't decided on what system I have decided i will use for rating films, I will just give the films a numerical rating out of 10.

9/10

Tina Fey to star in a new Comedy

Tina Fey looks to be joining Jason Bateman in the upcoming Shawn Levy adaptation of "This Is Where I Leave You", Fey is set to play the sister of Bateman in the adaptation of Jonathan Troppers 2010 novel.
I for one love Tina Fey she was hilarious in "30 Rock" and "Date Night", would love to see her added to the "Anchorman: The Legend Continues" she would be a great addition.

 

"The death of Judd Foxman’s father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family-including Judd’s mother, brothers, and sister-have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd’s wife, Jen, whose fourteen-month affair with Judd’s radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public.

Simultaneously mourning the death of his father and the demise of his marriage, Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch’s dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.

As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened. For Judd, it’s a weeklong attempt to make sense of the mess his life has become while trying in vain not to get sucked into the regressive battles of his madly dysfunctional family. All of which would be hard enough without the bomb Jen dropped the day Judd’s father died: She’s pregnant."

"The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" new posters

Fans all over the world have turned their eyes towards the promotional push for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire", the film is set to release November of this year. The two new posters show of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), celebrating the victory tour.

"Katniss and Peeta's victory is cut short as the Quarter Quell puts them back into the Hunger Games for the second time."

We have a new "Hitman"?

So I was doing my rounds on all the websites I usually use, an I came across a story on the Latino Review a great site might I add. They are reporting that Paul Walker will take over where Timothy Olyphant abysmally left off back in 2007, the film did not go down well with anybody I know or even the big time film reviewers out there.  The new film is set to be called "Agent 47", there is no surprise that the film is getting another reboot Hollywood are all out of ideas!

The script writing duties have been given to Skip Woods & Michael Finch, Skip worked on the film back in '07 so lets hope he doesn't mess up like he already has. Woods has worked on other projects like the upcoming "A Good Day To Die Hard" and "The A-Team" on the other hand Finch doesn't have much filmography behind him well he has one film "Predators" which also wasn't the best film. The director is set to be Aleksander Bach another no-name in the movie business, I can't really find anything about him on the Internet other than people saying he has direct commercials that's all.

The film is set to start shooting this year an will take place in Berlin and Singapore after Walker has done promoting "Fast & Furious 6". Other sources are reporting that Walker is set to shave his head for the role, man is he going all out Agent 47!

Josh Trank has a new project FINALLY!

I'm gonna be honest, the whole what will he do next scenario involving Josh Trank has started to get on my nerves a bit. I understand that he is in high demand after the huge success of "Chronicle" I was reading stories every couple of days about new projects he was attached to, it started off with a "Chronicle" sequel which thankfully looks like it is not being made, then there was talk about him directing "Venom" then also rumours of him directing "The Red Star" adaptation. Finally, it looks like Trank has put pen to paper an signed on to direct the "Fantastic Four" reboot;

"…as has long been rumoured, Chronicle director Josh Trank is taking his talents behind the camera of super powered action and drama to an official comic book franchise by taking the helm of 20th Century Fox’s reboot of Fantastic Four. The film will have an all-new cast and will be the next comic book film for the studio following The Wolverine."

Michael Fassbender is THE Assassin

 It's widely known  that films that are adapted from video games are well an truly cursed. The curse used to revolve mostly around the comic book adaptations but the curse has shifted. There has been many attempts over the years to make video games into films; Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros, Final Fantasy, Tekken and Max Payne all pretty great video games in their own right but completely and utter sucky films.

"On the casting Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Paris-based Ubisoft Motion Pictures, said:
“Michael Fassbender was our first choice… Michael is an extremely smart, talented, versatile and committed actor.”
While Sony could still come on-board to distribute, Ubisoft will “stick to their initial plan and develop the film independently in order to maintain greater creative control”. Ubisoft Motion Pictures will now look at hiring a writer and director, and re-enter talks with studios at a later date."

Trailer and poster for "Alex Cross"

I've seen "Kiss The Girls" and "Along Came A Spider" many times, an when I heard Idris Elba was set to be playing Alex Cross the character made famous by the great Morgan Freeman. I was extremely excited, then I found out he had been replaced by Tyler Perry, Tyler freaking Perry I mean who on earth even is this man? I thought he wrote musicals or something, so after hearing that I gave up on the proposed project. Now we have a poster and a trailer for the film, an I'm going to be honest I am kind of looking forward to it.

No "24" in 2012

This is a horrible punch in the gut, the anticipation of the new big screen adaptation of "24" has been through the roof. Now rumours are now surfacing that we will not being seeing the film this year like Sutherland had previously told us, the film is being put on the back burner due to Sutherlands commitments to his new hit show on FOX "Touch". As of now we unfortunately don't have a revised production schedule nor a release date.


"Sutherland has a brand new show on FOX called “Touch,” and was planning to shoot the 24 movie in the upcoming break between seasons. But Deadline says they would have had to rush the shoot, which was something Sutherland and mega-producer Brian Grazer didn’t want to do. So the movie hasn’t been killed completely, just indefinitely delayed."

"Indefinitely delayed" is it just me who doesn't like that phrase at all? Or are a few other people have a problem with it? It's just a phrase that I don't think goes well with a project I'm looking forward to. Doesn't look likely that he will be squeezing the film in between seasons either unfortunately.

Few more detals of "24" Movie

Back in December Kiefer Sutherland confirmed that the long awaited "24 Movie" was going ahead, interestingly it only ever seems to be Sutherland that's talking about the film.
The film will take place 6 months after the finale of the 8th series of the show, picking up straight from the storyline I'm personally not that far into the series will be by the time the new film releases I hope. The film isn't going to run for two hour real time like "24: Redemption", the new film is going to be 24 hours rolled into the 90 minute or so film length. Also it was confirmed that Mary Lynn Rajskub's, Chloe character will have a place in the film.