Several sources have confirmed that Legendary Pictures has picked up rights to Mass Effect, the Electronic Arts-published BioWare title that rocked the gaming world in 2007 and again in 2010 with the release of a sequel. Mark Protosevich, the screenwriter who wrote I Am Legend, is in talks to develop a script for the movie.
Really not sure how I feel about this. Knowing the director’s cut of I Am Legend, I already know the screenwriter won’t be a problem AT ALL, but my biggest concerns are director, the actor for Shepard, and are they going to make Shepard a paragon, renegade, or base decisions based on the default background of earthborn sole survivor.
That’s really what makes Shepard interesting, your ability to make him more interesting to YOUR tastes.
To people who haven’t played Mass Effect though, the plot twist near the end is sure to give them a serious mindfuck.
That is assuming they’ll use Shepard at all. I think Bioware would be adamant that Shepard not be in the movie, only mentioned in passing. They could easily make the movie canon (just like the novels). Bioware has said time and time again that the games are Shepard’s adventure and story and are totally dependent on the decisions of the player.
The novels are really good, so the movie could potentially be really good as well. The ME universe is diverse enough to pull together a good story without needing Shep.
I’m a huge Mass Effect buff, I know the universe and lore inside and out… and I was sorely disappointed with ME2.
It might be interesting, but with how much they changed from the source of I Am Legend, it will be interesting to see if they stick anywhere near their source material.
It would be interesting to see how involved Bioware gets with the project. I Am Legend was only one book, Mass Effect is an entire universe with plenty of lore. The screenwriters have more to work with, but I really hope they are kept in check by the writers of the games and novels.
If I remember correctly, there are actually members of the Bioware team that control and monitor continuity, making sure the story elements are true to the lore. They should be involved too, lol
This just in from the Bioware community forums (via Chris Priestly):
“Legendary Pictures, the studio behind great films such as The Dark Knight, Watchmen, The Hangover and 300 have picked up the rights to make Mass Effect. Legendary Pictures will produce with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni along with Avi Arad (who has been behind great films like Iron Man, X-Men and Spider-Man). From BioWare Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuck and Casey Hudson will serve as executive producers.”
It… it just might work.
Why is no one asking this question: “Why do we need a Mass Effect movie?”
So… why do we need a Mass Effect movie? Is there some rule that says any narrative that works great in one medium has to be transposed into every other available medium?
If you strip away the ability to have an impact on the story line, Mass Effect is basically like every other space opera you can name. Frankly, I’ve long since gotten tired of Hollywood making bad movies out of cool games.
The only way I would watch this is if they used my version of Shepard, which is a hot, ruthless lesbian and cast her as either Angelina Jolie or Megan Fox.
I guess its time to finally play the game…
Alien porn! WOOO!