Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Nerds who live life vicariously through video game to live life vicariously through movie based on video game

I have to tell you, Sam Raimi is a glutton for punishment. I'm not just talking about his repeated willingness to tolerate the presence of Kirsten Dunst (ZING!), I'm talking about his sick desire to work on projects with budgets slightly smaller than the deficit in California. Variety has announced that one-time cult favorite turned total sell-out Raimi (yeah, he totally Yorke-d a Leon...if you don't know what that means, go here) will direct Warcraft, which is based on the video game "World of Warcraft," which is based on the theory that humans don't need physical touch to live. Raimi will have his head so far up geek ass next year that he will be simultaneously "overseeing the development" of Warcraft while actually shooting Spiderman 4 (if life were a sitcom, Raimi would end up getting things mixed up and insert Spidey into a crazy medieval world of wizards and witches, but everything would work out just fine in the end when Danny Tanner has a heart-to-heart). Warner Bros, the studio perhaps best known for their big event movies, realized that the Harry Potter cash cow has been milked so violently that only nickels are dropping from its teats, and sees this new series as a potential big one...despite, you know, not having a set story really. Honestly, I can see where the appeal for the game is, but the movie just sounds so generic that I have no clue how you'd make a unique story out of it. (Who wants to bet there's a roguish anti-hero who just wants to be left alone but really has a heart of gold, some kind of brute who is used as comic relief, and a hot magic chick with a secret...yes, I too have once talked to a 14-year-old nerd). I'm guessing there is evil to be defeated, and that fans will nut themselves everytime one of the people on screen performs some goofy magic spell that they clicked into a computer while in their underpants at home. I think that signing Raimi is as good a move as could be made to make this interesting to those of us who have not been swallowed whole by the "World of Warcraft" craze (although I wonder if all of them are even interested in a movie version), but my excitement level is only a beige on the Color-Coded Anticipation Scale.

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7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Has there ever been a good video game based movie? The worst is all of the new ones coming out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_video_games

I mean....Pac-man? What is going to be the plot of that?

July 23, 2009  
Blogger Ryan said...

My response is five-fold: (1) No; (2) Okay, well, I kind of liked the first Mortal Kombat because I was 16 when I saw it and Doom and House of the Dead are effin' hilarious; (3) I so badly want to own a DVD copy of Double Dragon; (4) By the power of Jake Gyllenhaal's abs, Prince of Persia may not suck; and (5) Pacman will obviously tell the tale of an obese, yellow guy who is haunted by delusions while chasing after his pills.

July 23, 2009  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

So Pacman will be a rerun of Celebrity Rehab staring Gary Busey?

July 23, 2009  
Blogger Ryan said...

Right, only Pacman The Movie will be 90% less hysterical.

July 23, 2009  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The problem with any popular Video game going movie is they have no reason to do a good job on it. They know that Prince of Persia and World of Warcraft have enough of fans of the game that they will go to the movie regardless. Just striving for mediocrity will practically guarantee a sequel...ie Resident Evil / Tomb Raider. Even Street Fighter is getting a sequel and it was a giant pile.

July 23, 2009  
Blogger Ryan said...

Well, here's the thing...the math doesn't work. Let's say that you have an insanely popular game, and it sells (let's go with) 4 million copies, the movie only makes $40 million...if EVERYBODY who bought a copy goes to see it. Pretty low odds there. The reason most of those crap flicks get sequels is DVD rentals and sales. Oh, and I'm guessing that I'm not speaking to a Chris Klein fan.

July 23, 2009  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah not a Chris Klein fan. He is such a bad actor he makes Keanu Reeves look good.

July 23, 2009  

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