Quite a while ago there was a decent sized list of video games getting the silver screen treatment. But, where have they all gone? The list ranged from Bioshock (which was rumored to have a $160 Million budget) but it lost its director, God of War but the script has been left to floating around Hollywood, Prince of Persia which is actually coming out, and Gears of War. Until now there hadn’t been a peep from Hollywood regarding just what was going on with the project. The LA Times reports that Gears of War may not be as grand as it began.
Back in 2008 the movie was set to be directed by Live Free, Die Hard’s Len Wiseman and be ready by 2010. We are closely nearing the middle of of 2010 and the movie hasn’t even started filming yet. Needless to say I think their time frame is out the window. The director is also reportedly moving on to a different project, Nocturne, but still remaining attached to the Gears film. Originally screenwriter Chris Morgan, who wrote for films such as Wanted and Fast and Furious, had penned the script which he thought, “the gamer side is going to be thrilled with it. All the stuff you want to see, we put that in there and then we blow it out a little more, even. Now it’s just a matter of honing in on all of the character arcs and determining production types of things.” This is a promising notion and perhaps a sign that Hollywood is finally taking these projects more seriously.
However Hollywood has decided to scrap Chris Morgan’s awesome sounding script in exchange for a more cost effective script. One that would be able to play to the tune of a “good chunk” less than $100 million that the movie was supposed to have. With these key factors missing from the movie, will Gears of War find the right pieces to get things working again or will this one bit the bullet like the Halo Project seems to have done?
Source: Is ‘Gears of War’ grinding to a halt? [Los Angeles Times]
