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Metal Gear Solid Movie in the Works - Kurt Wimmer Being Confronted

by Alex Billington
March 14, 2008
Source: ComingSoon

We still haven't seen a quality video game movie yet, which is unfortunately disheartening because there are so many great video games out there. Jerry Bruckheimer's Prince of Persia is one of a few coming up in the next few years that could finally break that mold. One of the other ones that everyone has their sights on is Metal Gear Solid, Konami's best-selling video game about the adventures of elite US special ops solider Solid Snake. ComingSoon recently caught up with producer Michael De Luca, who confirmed that they're trying to get the movie back in gear and are talking to Equilibrium director Kurt Wimmer.

De Luca confirms that they're now trying to move forward on the project now that the writer's strike is over. The first step is obviously getting a script written, but unfortunately no writers have been mentioned yet. However, De Luca said that "they hope to meet with [Kurt] Wimmer in the next few weeks to talk about him writing the script (and presumably directing)." While we can expect more official announcements in the near future, at least a movie is in the works and De Luca is pushing to try and get the ball rolling again.

Kurt Wimmer is a filmmaker who made one hell of a directorial debut with the cult classic sci-fi film Equilibrium in 2002. Before that he only wrote the scripts for movies like The Wolves, Sphere, and The Thomas Crown Affair. Wimmer went on to write and direct Ultraviolet in 2006 and also wrote the script for the upcoming Street Kings.

Initially Wimmer was the guy that "fans wanted" to direct a Metal Gear Solid movie after Equilibrium had hit. Unfortunately I don't think he'd turn out a great script because of how bad Ultraviolet was. As much as I loved Equilibrium, that was his first movie and I really didn't like the story or script, only the fighting and visuals. And all in the same, this isn't confirmed - De Luca is only talking to him, and it could end up that he has absolutely nothing to do with the film.

I'm curious whether a Metal Gear Solid movie could actually turn into something good. I feel like there is hardly anyone out there that could actually churn out a good script for a movie, but I may be wrong. Thoughts?

Explore tags: Discussion, Movie News, Rumors

http://missgeeky.com Melinda Seckington

I loved Equilibrium and thought the story made it all work. Ultraviolet was pretty bad, but that wasn't really Kurt Wimmer's fault. The studio didn't like what Wimmer came up with and re-edited it completely. More than 30 minutes (!!) were cut out of it, which of course messed the film completely up. I'm still patiently waiting for a director's cut, cause I have a feeling that could be pretty amazing. I'm not sure if Wimmer would be right for the script, but I would love to see him direct Metal Gear Solid. I think he's got the ability to turn out a great action movie.
Steve Ormsbee

Equilibrium was a great movie, with not only great action scenes but a great plot. They should look into talking with David Hayter, the guy who does the voice for Solid Snake in the games, and writer of X-men and X-men 2 and the upcoming Watchmen. I think he'd be interested and would at least have a lot of great ideas, since he has obviously been so involved with the games. I think this is a fantastic idea if they don't screw it up. Metal Gear has always been my favorite video game series and has always had fantastic plots, actually better than most action movies out there. The question is, how do you cast Snake? That could make or break this movie. I'm trying to think of someone "man" enough to play that role... I'd be down for Wimmer directing, but they should go after a different writer...
Jojo

Fuck Metal gear solid. I want a halo and Gears of war movie.
http://johnkuehlonline.blogspot.com John

When it comes to video games into movies, I think that it is going to take a good director that is willing to take a serious career risk in order to get a good movie made. Look at the Resident Evil movies. Paul WS "I cast my wife, who has the acting ability of a real doll in movies" Anderson churned out one of the biggest piles of shit that had nothing to do with the games except sharing a title and it made money. So movie studios green lighted films that had similar create-our-own-world in the world of the game. The Silent Hill movie actually did a decent job of making it's own owrld from a game and staying faithful to the game itself, but nobody went and saw it because it didn't have a Rob Zombie song in the soundtrack or stupid slow motion effects. I didn't know that Kurt Wimmer also made Ultraviolet. That movie (also with the real-doll) was complete and total crap. Not just bad special effects, but bad everything. I think that the writer/director is one of the many people to blame for that. I mean come on, the city with the giant cross building that houses a mega corporation? Who really thought that was a good idea? So find a director and throw some serious money at them. Who cares how much they have to pay, because if the movie is good video game geeks like myself will not only go and see it, but post on the internet about seeing it. A game like Metal Gear Solid sold millions of copies and is regarded as one of the best games of all time. Obviously the script would need to be strong, but a quality director that has experience other than a few independent foreign films can make any movie worth watching.
Nate

Someone like Michael Bay with his over the top productions could be good, married with someone interested in eastern culture and style like the Wachowski brothers producing. Something along those lines. I think that would be the good direction to go. Not necessarily a blockbuster style movie, but one that needed to have well planned out, and filmed action sequences. The game movies alone already had this, no reason not to recreate them in live action. The concept would need to be very stylized with a lot of dark and bright themes, but not in the vain of the horrible Batman movies with Clooney and Schwarzenegger to visually pull off the film. At the same time, I wouldn't want someone to ruin the franchise of the game. I agree with Steve Ormsbee, that the guy who did the voice of Snake and wrote the X-men movie would be a good candidate to do the script. Equilibirum was a good visual movie as well as Ultraviolet, but the latter being concentrated on action scenes, so Wimmer doesn't sound like he would go in the right direction for all aspects of the movie. I'm not sure who would be good for the roles, but i'd like to see some new comers. A fresh face is easier to watch then say...Tom Cruise in MI:3. You lose the character and just see the famous, or in his case, infamous actor. That's my 2 cents.
Erwin

Brendan Fraser would be perfect for this
Djoser

You people don't know shit about movies. It's not as if every video game could be translated into a good film. Film is an art form- pulling together the talents of script writers, performers, and directors and producers (among others like marketers, etc., but that's coordinated by production). The difference between a video game and a film is that you have to tell a story in film, at every step of the way. Story is most imporant. And everyone involved knows that the audience will be getting the product in one sitting, with very few exceptions. Thus, since you can't press pause, you can't create your own character, and you the viewer have no influence over the outcome of the story- the ONLY video games that could possibly be translated well to films are ones that already have a story intact. The fact is, a feature-film length story would make a very short video game. Likewise, your standard epic video game is usually about 5 to 10 acts, as opposed to the Film Industry standard of Three. What it comes down to is this: WHO THE HELL IS SNAKE??? He's a fantastic Tabula Rasa (translation: Blank Slate) specifically designed to have no personality, so that any player can enter the Metal Gear Solid world and marvel as they interact with that world's intricacies and challenges. TRY to convince any actor worth their salt to step into those shoes. That is the Very Reason why Video Games translate horribly to Film. Even more poorly than Novels. EVEN IF THERE'S A STORY, WE HAVE YET TO SEE A VIDEO GAME IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY W/ A CENTRAL CHARACTER WHO DEVELOPS, AND IS WORTH CARING ABOUT ENOUGH TO TELL "THEIR" STORY! Much as every single video game player says to themself: "This'd make an awesome movie!" Look at the track record- and put your thinking caps on for two seconds. Where's the depth? It's in the concept design, and the futuristic or fantastic designs of the worlds. Okay, well, what have we been taught about really cool concept design, when translated into movies involving actual Human Performances by actors? I cite everything from John Leguizamo & Dennis Hopper in Super Mario Bros., to ALIENS vs. PREDATOR, 1 AND 2. I rest my case. (If ANYone can show me proof that a guy who barely talks and simply ages visually through consecutive video games has developed as a real character, with a background, personality, and motive- I'll stand corrected. My goal here is to point out the fundamental flaw of the question you're all askin yourselves. "Why no good video game movies?" My short answer: Because the Art of Film works very differently than the art of a good video game.)
http://www.moviemake-out.com Gordon

Equilibrium was shit, guys. I love Christian Bale and all, but I thought the action was crap (what did they call it? Gun fu? stupid, nonsensical bullshit) and it had a retarded rip-off of a plot. What did you guys like about it?
Darrin

i like what jojo said but i would also like to see an assassins's creed film.
carg0

(laughing) Metal Gear Solid movie... yea, do us a favor and hold your breath on that one. how's that Halo & Gears of War movie comin' along?
Travis

Wachowski brothers and Peter Jackson would be my choice. I really hope they can turn it into a movie as cool as the game, not another RE or Hitman crap.
Michael

Djoser, In most cases, you'd be right. Halo, for example, is tough to adapt (although there is a script out there for it) because of its near-silent protagonist. However, MGS' biggest gameplay flaw is the lack thereof. The storylines, however, are quite good. It's easier to adapt than really any other IP out there.
http://johnkuehlonline.blogspot.com John

Djoser, Have you ever even played Metal Gear Solid? It is pretty obvious that Snake is not a "Tabula Rosa" (Pretentious way of sounding better than everyone else instead of saying blank slate) right from the start of the game. He is your typical "hard as nails" special forces guy. Snake talks and asks questions quite a bit. Your point works for a great deal of video games, except Metal Gear Solid is not like many other games. The first game has a great story and plays out that way. You get penalized for running around like a jackass and shooting. At times the game is like any other game, but there are some seriously great moments in that game. There are well developed characters and an engaging story line. Aliens VS. Predator has been many forms, but was a comic first so you can stop sounding like an elitist prick at any time now. I will be the first guy to say that not many games would make good movies, but Metal Gear Solid is a type of game that has more story elements than the average game.
Ruby

MGS has one of the most intricate background stories ever. If they can just have Hideo Kojima oversee production, this movie can turn out to be amazing. The problem with video game movies is that they drift from the plot and original stories and just kind of wing it. Paul Greengrass (Bourne Trilogy) would be a perfect fit for directing. It would have to be very low lit, dark, guns with silencers, and CQC as the game is more about stealth than explosions. As for Halo and Gears of War? Fun to play, but stories are both cookie cutters of any Saturday afternoon B flick on Sci-Fi. And Brenden Frazier? Yikes....
Djoser

John- We're both guilty of making assumptions, then. I was inviting someone to prove to me wrong about Metal Gear Solid and you presented a decent argument. Good for you. But I'm well aware of the comics origins of AvP. You tell me, though- did either of those movies have anything to do with the comics? Didn't think so. You can stop calling your fellow fans elitist pricks now.
EDA

i loved Equilibrium but couldnt make myself see Ultraviolet Djoser has a point most video games are too shallow for film but i still agree with #3 (Halo does have a script out there)
Sinner

I'd be shocked if this turns out to be even half decent. However I gotta say Alex, I disagree with the "no quality video game movies". A couple months back I finally checked out Silent Hill & I was pleasantly surprised. Shocked really. This was a quality horror flick that is guaranteed to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck & I'm usually very desensitized concerning horror films & gore etc. It definitely has a Hellraiser feel to it, especially with the ending. Hey Alex (busy guy), hope all is well w' ya. Hey, totally off topic, have you had time for Ninja Scroll yet.
Mos

PLEASE, FOR ALL THAT IS SACRED IN THE WORLD OF FILM, CAST JOSH HOLLOWAY AS SNAKE!!!!!!!!!
Mark

I‘ll go with Gordon (#8). Please, Equilibrium was a bottomless stupid and nonsensical rip from greater movies. And Wimmer is a talentless hack. Even with countless cutted minutes out of Ultraviolet it makes in every actual scene even Uwe Bolls crap to masterpieces. Ryuhei Kitamura would be the right man for it. He directed the videogame too.
Slayer

MGS won't work as a single movie. It has to has action with a plot so sophisticated that it takes a few movies to play out. But unfortunately, Hollywood pictures rarely rise up to that.
Dave B

You have no clue what you are talking about if you think that Snake has no personality or the Metal Gear series has no depth. I've played all the Metal Gear games dating back to the original on the NES and you can see a complete evolution of the character from then to now. Hell, if they use MGS1 or 2 has the framework there is too much depth. MGS2 is essentially a 10 hour movie as is. The political and social commentary give the game a deeper meaning while the action makes the game fun. I see little reason why the game couldn't translate into an interesting and worthwhile movie. That isn't saying it will but it could.
Aswipe' Melendez

I know you guys like games, so here's a challenge: I would like someone to put in words the political and social commentary of Metal Gear Solid. (Complete sentences please- or is that too elitist a request?)
Bruce Darren Acosta

METAL GEAR SOLID MOVIE PLUS ONIMUSHA MOVIE. I'm gald that German director Uwe Boll is not doing this movie so thats good, Kurt Wimmer will be the man to do the movie based on the first game with directing and writing the script for the film,Michael De Luca will produce the film. Bad news for Christophe Gans,Onimusha has been put on hold because the strike is happening again so I think it will give the Onimusha screenwriters time to sort out the plot,the Jacob character will be out of the picture so the screenplay will be based on the Onimusha Warlords with stories based on Samanosuke,Kaede,Princess Yuki and Nobunaga,Emilie De Ravin from Lost is attached to the film which its not true she will continue working on the show Lost. Takeshi Kaneshiro,Christophe Gans and Samauel Hadida will get onimusha back on track next year as they will shoot the film in Japan instead of China. This is good news for the filmmakers of MSG getting the movie started. Thank You. BRUCE ACOSTA AUSTRALIA.
Landon O'Donnnell

I'm a huge Metal Gear solid fan, but I have a feeling that Sony is going to F**k up like they did with Resident Evil!!!!! Lets try to keep Anderson away from this one.
Manfred Powell

A Metal Gear Solid movie written and directed by Kurt Wimmer would likely suck hard. Equilibrium had a mediocre script, even though its visuals were at least interesting. It's the weight of Christian Bale's performance that just about pulls the film out of total mediocrity. Ultraviolet was just plain bad. Furthermore, Wimmer worked with co-writers on scripts for The Thomas Crown Affair, Sphere, and The Recruit. Don't believe the myth. Video game adaptations can work. You just need to get real talent behind it (i.e. not Kurt Wimmer), instead of just relying on the franchise name to get butts in seats.
Daniel

Metal Gear solid first of is an amazing series, and i have a gut feeling that Kurt wimmer is going to fuck the series up with this movie, i wonder what it would be like if Christpher Nolan directed it. o.O
DallyBoy89

Umm... Has anyone thought that it would be a good idea to let Hideo Kojima write it, and have Michael Bay direct it? Best idea ever! Michael has shown how well he adapts long loved series' into big-screen faves ( ya im talking about transformers. haha). But seriously, it wouldn't be a movie about snake sneakin' around and stuff. It would be a flop that bores mainstream audiences, and big companies wouldn't pick it up because they only want to make $$. So i think michael bay is an obvious choice for a director, and Hideo has to write the script-hands down. Nevertheless it would still be difficult to adapt such a hands-on series to a silver screen hit. Let's just pray they do it right...
Jodie

If METAL GEAR SOLD is going to become a movie It should be a CGI dont want another resident evil movie(Characters that are not even in the game WTF?) if metal gear is a CGI it would make things a hell of a lot easier i mean think about it people these days can make a CGI look so realistic
SOILD SNAKE

and Djoser, do all of us a favor and go pick up a copy of MGS1 before you start running your mouth. Talking all this bullshit about film like you know everything. I hate fucking film nerds! IF you were as devout to film as you think you are you wouldn't pass up a chance to make a film like MGS. The reason why there are no good video game movies, is not because video games do not translate well to the silver screen, it's just that like comic book movies pre ironman and dark knight they are not taken that seriously as potential for dramatic force. Now you have some good points when you wrote about characters in games being this blank slate for the players. Ok granted, I'll give you that. So what, you mean to tell me, film makers can't create a backstory for these characters? I mean Film makers make their bread and butter from creating interesting stories and characters. So your argument really has no legs to run on. MGS makes it even easier, for everyone is laid out, from the heros to the villains. As I said go play the fucking game, until then shut up you ignorance. Soild Snake The video game should act as a template for the film makers to build on. The film makers actually have more to build on from a game than they do when they build a movie from stratch.
Jodie

dude i have played and owned every MGS game from metal gear to metal gear solid 4 finished them all
Jay

Erwin, I would like to point out to you that Snake/Big Boss /The boss are all exceptions of your speculation on people not "caring enough about the videogame main characters" Sure, we play as snake / big boss, but as examples - At the end of MGS4 and MGS3... You feel real... upset for the characters, asif they are real people and not simply pixels. An MGS movie done right will be a fantastic hit and I'll actually bother to buy the DVD and re-watch the thing every other week Hope it gets the attention and budget it deserves.
Jay

My mistake, the above comment was to djoser.
emma

common, metal gear solid has one of the most interesting and complex stories of any video game out there. it's what compels you to play with passion. halo and gears of war a fair enough games, but in terms of a movie? common, i mean id love to see it happen. but there's no way it's going to match a metal gear solid film. there's no tactical skill involved in Rambo shootouts. i'd love to see snake use his CQC on the big screen. master chief doesnt stand a chance.
Sean

I agree with Emma..Halo would make a shitty movie. If it was a movie, 110% of it would be cg and lame firefights that are so intense you can't even see what is going on. The only thing that made the game good was the online multiplayer, which is the only reason people play it..meaning the story fucking blew. Same applies to Gears of War. Those games get too much credit and that is exactly why douche bags think they would make great movies. Clearly the people who disagree with the MGS movie have never actually played any of the games. There is so much to the MGS series some people are too incompetent to comprehend any of it. The gameplay pretty much allows you to play the game with two different methods, stealth or guns blazing. The story is about 100000 movies in itself and it's actually quite realistic compared to a lot of games out there. Yeah, maybe the technology used in the game is a bit off the wall but it all has some kind of reasonable explanation. Metal Gear Ray for instance, appears to have a laser but it's really just a jet of water. We have the technology to use water to cut through titanium, so I think it makes sense. Metal Gear Solid is a one-of-a-kind game, soon to be movie. I have never been so into it while playing a video game other than the MGS games. Wow, you can use a fucking laser sword in a video game better than a few other people around the world; Or find a good sniping spot for a staggering two minutes before the game is over and you have to enter another one..I'd like to see those key elements of Halo put into a movie, it's all about the online play..nobody gives a shit about the story. Halo is generic, so is Gears of War. There are so many of those games out there. Now I was having a hard time finding other games like Metal Gear Solid..no luck. I just hope the MGS movie isn't ruined by cg and misinterpreting Solid Snake as another Rambo or John McClane. Also, if Kurt Russel was 20 years younger, he would make a great Snake. Besides, that's who Snake was modeled after anyways..Snake Plissken from the Escape from LA/New York movies watch them and you'll see how.
John S

Video games to the silver screen is a HUGE no-no. We've seen this countless of times, for instance, Final Fantasy, which was pretty cool CGI at the time, but what was their customer base? Just video gamers. I'm sure if I put my dad or grandpa through something like that, my dad would walk out of the theater 10 minutes into it, while gramps would fall asleep while dad leaves. Not only that, you just cannot cram the plot of MGS into 2.5 hours of time. The characters have way too much depth. Only way this would happen is if it pulled a Harry Potter and went 7 straight movies.
Dave

I was thinking that they could make metal gear solid 1 into 2 movies, but only if they had to. They could end it where snake gets captured and the last seconds would be where he is being tortured on ocelot's bed/table device. Then, in the next one they could pick it up from where he is in the prison cell, post torture. Metal gear solid 2 though. Wow, that would take 3 or 4 movies, and there hardly isn't anywhere to stop in metal gear solid 2, except: when the tanker sinks; you find snake in raiden's storyline (they could end it with a fading shot of snake/pliskin's face); or when raiden is being tortured. Metal Gear solid 3 could probably be placed into 2-2 and a half hours, however. If anybody has any other ideas though I will listen.
neil

Equilibreum was awesome. Props to Wimmer however, an MGS movie would be SO tricky with trying to make a good movie and honor a legendary game series like MGS. I mean look what they did to Resident Evil, Hitman, and so on! According to other sources though, Hideo Kojima (Producer of MGS series) wants to work very closely with the directors and editors and I'm sure he wouldn't let some idiot-jackass fuck up his legacy.