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BioWare's Mass Effect Headed to the Big Screen!

by Alex Billington
September 20, 2008
Source: The Cut Scene

One of the best video games I have ever played in my life is Mass Effect, an expansive role-playing futuristic sci-fi game. The game not only has great graphics and an immense universe, but features one of the best user-controlled narrative structures I've ever seen. It could easily be turned into an awesome movie without much work, which is why I'm ecstatic to write this news today. Apparently Avi Arad, who was once the CEO of Marvel, has option the rights to the game from publisher Electronic Arts. There aren't any other major details to add to this story at the moment, but we can be sure that Arad is working hard to get this project into development, including finding some writers and pitching the idea to studios.

Whenever I would play Mass Effect, it was one of those games that I felt like needed a movie right away. It was such an incredible universe to play in and the story started getting more and more complex at every turn. You control a character named Commander Shephard who is fighting against an edgy bureaucracy and numerous planetary gangs. In fact, the game is nearly a movie itself, devoting more to its cinematic storytelling than any actual action. I really can't wait to see this come to fruition; I just hope that Arad knows what he's doing and hires the right creative team. This is no skimpy sci-fi film, it needs a big budget, an experienced director, and a writer that won't turn this into yet another cheesy video game movie.

I'm actually so excited by this news that I think I'm going to pop in my disc of Mass Effect and play through it again when I get home. This truly is a dream come true for me, because I'm a big sci-fi nut and Mass Effect was the greatest sci-fi video game I ever played. Hope you pull it off Avi Arad!

Filed under Hype, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

sean

we all know this is going to suck....there is no such thing a good video game movie....with the exception of Mortal Kombat
Chris W

Mass Effect has great characters and such a deep storyline that can go in so many directions. This could possibly be the movie that defines a good video game movie.
http://cad.cx/blog Colin Dean

Is it on Steam?
fracaso

as long as they have Seth Green as the pilot Joker and Keith David as Captain Anderson im happy
Darrin

i hope the whole movie is cgi.
taylor

oh yes this has great potential. They just need to to this right and not be as crappy as every other video game movie. oh and i totally agree with #4. and No god please No to #5.
http://thesomewhatmanlynerd.wordpress.com CajoleJuice

#3: Unfortunately, no. #4: Agreed #5: Then you would just have the game all over again... This could work, but I found reading up and finding out about the great backstory to be one of the most interesting parts of the game. There's no way they'll be able to go that in-depth in a movie.
vu

space nerds (myself included) say a prayer they don't F this up! Oh who am I kidding it's probably going to be cheesy like Starship Troopers or something. But I agree with Alex that it's one of the best games I've ever played and definitley one of my favorites. Maybe Dane Cook could play the lead and restore faith in his fans that he should be doing movies.
nelson

Matthew fox should be the main guy
nelson

or maybe karl urban
Itri

Matthew fox in Vantage Point = terrible. So for that, no Fox in Mass Effect. Ever.
nelson

i heard vantage point sucked as a whole anyways lol
007

While I don't want to bash this I must say it was a very predictable move, even my ten year old brother who watched me play the game told me that he expected a movie out of this. Hollywood really needs more people with an imagination. Has it really come to video game movies, superhero movies, cheap comedies that do nothing but make fun of movies, prequels, film adaptation of a novel, tv shows that become films, reboots, and sequels?? I mean some of the movies that fall under these categories are indeed good but come on! every other movie i hear about does indeed fall into one of these sections. Now I don't want to be completely rude seeing as this is my first comment on here so I'll do my best to end it on a strong note, Dominic Purcell - Commander Shephard Keith David - Captain Anderson Seth Green - Joker Megan Fox or Rose McGowan - Ashley Williams My Ideal Cast! Anyways the game has a good story but is super short (even with all of the side quest completed)!! I wonder how they can extend this...
Jesse

I can see the trailer now "from the Producer of Spider-man and Bratz"
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

So I know that Avi Arad has produced a lot of BAD movies... but the way I look at it, he's not the greatest producer, but he's also not the worst. Maybe he will do this movie justice? Either way, it's a bit ridiculous to say it's going to be terrible just because Arad's produced movies like Bratz... Give it time before you judge it!
http://weill.org Jason

I'd really look forward to this. I just started playing Mass Effect again (finished my 2nd playthrough, on to the 3rd!) and the story really is exceptional. There have also been two novels published about the characters. Two more games are in the works though I didn't see anything about Mass Effect 2 at this year's PAX. This movie could very well bridge the story between the first two games, be a prequel to the first game, or go anywhere else. Mass Effect is one of very few times I've been able to use the phrase "well-written game" to talk about the story rather than about the graphics engine.
MrSammich

As a Mass Effect I hope they do this well, I don't say do it right because the game has such an open branching set of events that it will be hard to please even the hardcore fanboys. For example my brother and I are both hardcore fanboys, I enjoy the guardian of the universe role while he is a stain on the face of galatic piece, killing any and all that may be killed, but we are definately both playing as Commander Shepard, my Shepard is a young balding red haired man with a stubble beard while his is an aging tan black haired man with a giant scar across his face. I won't lie, I even thought about how it would e great to see Shepard's story on screen, but Shepard doesn't really have one because the story is defined by the actions of the players and so becomes the player's story that came only be perfected through interactive media. So the movie will aim to please both of us, it will most likely please only one of us or neither at all. But still, in my heart I do want to seee Turians and Krogan on-screen mid-June or July in the next two or three years. I hope the story they make is pleasing to the rest of the public as well.
safichan

the hollywood's studio should consider to bring brilliant and legendary games like Half-Life or Diablo or StarCraft or WarHammer or Command and Conquer into the silver screen...those games have received a huge and massive success in terms of production quality and commercial in the history of gaming and entertainment...not to mention those games has a huge fan base worldwide...including Halo (we already know Peter Jackson wants to work on this for years)... why bring game like Mass Effect into the movie??? i'm not saying that its not good...but there are plenty more out there much better than Mass Effect...its true...no kidding... Mass Effect does not have enough "charisma" to bring mega success...
http://www.c-r-u-x.de c-r-u-x

#18: Mass Effect has as much "charisma" as the other legendary games you mentioned - it's just newer, so it didn't yet have the time to gain as many worshippers as Diablo or StarCraft etc. But for example Half-Life would be a terrible movie in my opinion. The story is just too simple and cliché. The same goes with Diablo - those two games have their greatest strengths in gameplay, not in story telling. StarCraft would make a great movie and Mass Effect already IS an excellent movie that just needs to be translated to the big screen! I would love to see Mass Effect made accessible to all of those who could not play the game, because it's really an amazing work of art that deserves AT LEAST as much attention as Star Wars!
Shige

#19 Do not even compare Mass Effect, a game hardly anyone remembers or talks about 1 month after its release to the games #18 mentioned. Those are the real classics and every PC gamer knows what they are. I have to agree with you though on the part that neither of those games would make a good movie except maybe Starcraft.
sol

As long as its not Uwe Boll, I'll pay to see it.
Brad

Yay, another generic sci-fi movie in the works, as if Halo wasn't a bad enough idea.
IK

Oh great. Another one.
safichan

well, at least max payne is coming this year... and hopefully HALO still can make its way to the hollywood...I believe in Peter Jackson... F.E.A.R anyone??? how about F.E.A.R???
http://www.10tu.com/forums dRailer

I don't understand the people that dog Mass Effect or even a Mass Effect movie. I'm not sure it needs to be a movie, but from a gaming standpoint, an original and interesting new property for sci-fi gaming is welcome any time. Dog it if it was another Star Wars or Halo game, but it isn't -- a brand new universe with a compelling history and storyline. If the movie brought the same kind of love I'd happily go see it. Agreed with #4 - Seth did so awesome as the pilot -- he helped make star travel feel a bit more casual, and thus believable somehow.
Banthas

@Shige: STFU. Just because there are not as much fanboys and fans with ME as with those other games[, which are good too], it doesn't mean that it does not deserve a movie. g We have more than enough Movies in the C&C series. With enough money every of these games could be adpoted into good movies, but they would be full of cliche and just bad. Just look at Doom. Just read ones of the novels if you like their stories so much.
http://google Xerxex

Matthew Fox would actually be a good choice for the main character. But this film needs fresh faces.
Curtis

This is great news I've had the game for a while now and still haven't got around to beating it, but this news has sparked my interest in playing it again and finishing it. I hope Arad can do some justice to the movie but i don't know yet im gonna have to wait and see, lets hopefully they can find a good director and a great cast of new and old faces, this could be an amazing movie or a complete failure. Looking forward to how it all plays out.
http://Teamxbox.com Unseen

Remember when Comic Book movies sucked? Yeah Video game movies will have their time in the sun eventually too.
Sinbad

#13 I feel you completely!!
m4st4

Mass effect sucks... Your Arguments? 'One of the best SF-games ever' Yeah, right...and I thought you were actually meaning Half-Life (1, 2, Episodes), Alien Vs. Predator 2, System Shock... I can still hear that damn 'Mass Effect' dialogs in my head...'Shepard, you're a spectre, act like one!' Oh, shut the *bleep* up, Anderson, or whatever. Still, graphics were fine... BUT...Is it worth a shot? Yes, and what about 'some other grand games out there?' Nobody gives a shit about Morrowind movie, or whatever... Hollywood, sometimes, you just piss me off!!!
Shige

#26 Congratulations. You have successfully missed my point and managed to use the ever handy "STFU". Feel better ?
kekeke

#26 Impressive reading comprehension!
X

im on board!