'Gears of War' Movie Loses Budget and More

I think it goes without saying that the track record of video game movies doesn’t exactly bode well for the upcoming video game movies currently in development. "Gears of War" is no exception – even if it’s based on one of the most critically acclaimed games of the last decade.

Now there's going to be some major changes to the "Gears of Wars movie, namely regarding who is directing it, what the story is and what the budget is.

According to the LA Times, New Line has decided to dramatically cut the film's budget and limit its storyline, sending director Len Wisemen ("Underworld," "Live Free or Die Hard") into the arms of his other project, "Nocturne."

The budget has been scaled back from what was to be well over $100 million to a considerably lower amount (no number is actually confirmed). The plan now is to make a more straightforward alien invasion story instead of the action adventure epic it was originally intended to be.

Wiseman was tapped to direct the film a while back and even co-wrote the script for the film with Chris Morgan ("Wanted"). The film was set to be a prequel to the first game in the popular Xbox 360 series and possibly be the first in a trilogy.

Although technically still attached to "Gears of War," Wiseman will in fact depart the project when all is said and done (which will probably squash any chances of his wife, Kate Beckinsale, starring in the film).

Producers are currently looking for a new writer to pen the script for this “straight-forward alien invasion” approach they’ve suddenly decided on. I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this stalled project as time goes by - like who the new director will be and any casting announcements (if the film ever gets made...).

It seems that the sprawling and epic "Gears of War" adaptation will now be substantially less sprawling and significantly less epic...*sigh*

What do you think of the film's budget shrinking and losing its director?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, UGO movie Blog

'Gears of War' Film Will Only Start the Action...Not Be the Action

"Gears of War," the popular video game for the Xbox 360, is being turned into a feature film with Len Wiseman ("Underworld") directing.

A while back, screenwriter Chris Morgan said that the film would not be a prequel to the first video game, but that it would show how the war depicted in the games began.

“Gears of War” centers on the members of Delta Squad, an elite squadron that consists of rough-and-tough soldiers Marcus Fenix, an ex-convict, and Dominic Santiago, a hardened soldier. They form a the squadron that wages war against an insurgent alien race called the Locust Horde — a deadly collective that’s already promised to surface heavily in the film.

"It would be a crying shame not to deal with Marcus and Dom," Morgan told MTV News back in October of 2008. "I would not be interested in the movie if we weren't dealing with them. I want to see those guys. I want to see 'Emergence Day.' I want to see this stuff happen."

Emergence Day is when the Locust Horde burst from the ground and began attacking humanity. The video game did not show that or anything about the beginning of the war as it was only described to explain the reason for immediately thrusting the player into the thick of the fight.

Now MTV News had the chance to talk with producer Wyck Godfrey and discuss the plot of the upcoming film.

"The hard part is how to make it into something that doesn't feel like a world torn asunder and people just in battle," he described. "I think we really want to focus on the idea of a world that's running well, and then it's Emergence Day and kind of make it impactful and immediate and the survival of those 48 hours as people survive Emergence Day. It's more like 'Cloverfield' or something like that."

As mentioned, the game immediately heads into battle against the vicious Locust Horde. It sounds like the movie won't take that approach, however, as Godfrey explained that jumping straight into the Locust side of things might not appeal to moviegoers given the current global atmosphere.

"Trying to tell the epic story of an alien planet that's living in a horrific environment just feels like the wrong mood right now," he said.

I'm always a bit cautious when it comes to breaking too far away from source material — and here I again believe that this is a mistake. One of the great parts about the game was getting straight into the action, and that is what made the game popular. Maybe the mood is wrong for some people, but the fans of the game (the main market for this film) probably aren't going to be very excited for an origins story. I know I'm not.

I don't understand why Hollywood loves doing origin stories. Does anybody are about how the war in the game started? Instead of just tiny flashbacks or something throughout the action, we're gonna get the first act where we meet everyone, the second act where we're invaded and then everything under the sun will be crammed into the last act.

I am also against the comparison to "Cloverfield." That was a cool movie in its own right, but very different from what I'd like to see in "Gears of War" in terms of scope and style.

For now, I'm filing this under the wait-and-see category. But my hopes aren't high for this film already if they're taking this approach.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Latino Review, MTV News

Gears of War

Screenwriter Chris Morgan recently spoke with MTV News to give a status update on the upcoming video game adaptation of "Gears of War," saying that things are moving along fantastically.

“A draft went in and we’re talking about it now and we’re budgeting it out,” Morgan told MTV. “It’s looking incredibly good.”

The film is currently set up at New Line with “Underworld” helmer Len Wiseman attached to direct. Wiseman already has MTV’s endorsement, and if Morgan’s script pans out as he intends, fans of the franchise are likely to back the project as well.

“I think the gamer side is going to be thrilled with it,” said Morgan. “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.”

For the uninitiated, “Gears of War” centers on the members of Delta Squad, an elite squadron that consists of rough-and-tough, chew-your-guts-out types of soldiers. Players assume the roles of Marcus Fenix, an ex-convict, and Dominic Santiago, a hardened soldier, as the squadron wages war against an insurgent alien race called the Locust Horde — a deadly collective that’s already promised to surface heavily in the film.

“It’s huge,” Morgan declared of the project’s scope. “One of the things they’re really talking about now is the budget of the film and how big of a spectacle this is going to be. My argument is, look at the underlying material. Look at the game and the scenario — the fact that the world is being taken over by the Locust, it has to be huge.”

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: MTV News

Gears of War Trilogy

Not talking about the games here (which there are two), but of forthcoming movies.

Bloody Disgusting had the chance to catch up with Len Wiseman on the Re Carpet premiere of "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" and they discussed his next project, "Gears of War."

“I’m writing 'Gears Of War' with Chris Morgan, who wrote 'Wanted,'” Wiseman said to BD before explaining that he wasn’t much of a gamer until he saw GOW in his movie Live Free Or Die Hard.

“I suck at video games, it just takes me too long and I can’t get the coordination of ‘em. When I was on '[Live Free Or] Die Hard,' I had to choose some video game for the background in a scene with Kevin Smith. I was shown about a dozen games and told to ‘Choose one to be in the background’ and I said ‘this one looks really, really cool whatever it is,’ and it was Gears Of War. I just really connected with it; the design of it the world, the whole thing. So I actually brought an Xbox 360 to start researching what it was.”

For the first time ever, Wiseman talked about his plans for adapting the franchise.

“It’s going to be much more [on the] science fiction side of it than the creature side of it. I’ve always been much more of a sci-fi action fan than a horror fan,” he reveals also explaining that he wants the scope of the film to be told over the course of three films! “The hope is that were wanting to do a three movies and really cover the bases on everything. Basically a harder edged 'Lord Of The Rings.'”

While Wiseman doesn’t say the films will be in 3-D, he does admit that he’s interesting in the new technology. “Yeah, I think about [3D technology] quite a bit,” he continues, “the more and more I get involved with these movies and the bigger they are the more you rely on CG effects to help you out. And you can do it properly; I’ve been a big fan of practical work and still am, it’s finding a way to incorporate them together.”

While I think "Gears of War" will make a great movie (if done like the game), a trilogy might not work out. There are only two games, so where are they going to get the material? Are they going to make stuff up? Turns out that doesn't work well when it comes to game adaptations.
Also, I believe 3-D would be a bad idea. Right now the technology is only a gimmick. Wait until December and see how well "Avatar" does, then we will talk.

We will have to wait and see with more news to come! Catch ya' later!

Gears of War

Gears of War, the best-selling game from the Xbox 360 console, is being made into a feature film with Underworld director Len Wiseman now behind the camera.

Chris Morgan, the man behind writing the screenplay for the movie, spoke about how the film is coming along.

"There are elements to it that can be considered a prequel," Morgan teased, "but it's not a prequel as far as I'm concerned."

According to VH1, "What he [Morgan] could confirm, however, is the live-action debut of some of the game's most familiar faces — namely, the game's main character, Marcus Fenix, and fellow Delta Force soldier Dominic Santiago. Better yet, Morgan hinted that the current script would bring 'Emergence Day,' the initial invasion by alien baddies known as the Locust Horde, to the big screen."

"It would be a crying shame not to deal with Marcus and Dom," Morgan told MTV News. "I would not be interested in the movie if we weren't dealing with them. I want to see those guys. I want to see 'Emergence Day.' I want to see this stuff happen."

Exactly how that will happen will involve a delicate mix of computer-generated effects and live-action drama, Morgan said. The writer compared his template for scripting Gears of War to the mix of creature effects and live interaction in James Cameron's Aliens. Bringing that concept to the screen, though, will be Wiseman's job.

The director's plan for Gears of War is to stay away from an "all-green-screen, all-CGI movie," Morgan said, only using the computer effects for "the big stuff" and certain scenes featuring the Locust.

"In [Wiseman's] mind, he wants to make it as realistic as possible," Morgan said, "and to blur those lines where your mind says, 'Oh, it's a big CGI film.'"

Gears of War is schedule for a release in 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!