John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Interview with producer Samuel Hadida.
http://videogames.yahoo.com/ongoingfeature?eid=450214&page=0
Snippet:
On Silent Hill:
On RE:
On Video Game Based Movies:
There is a lot more there.
Good stuff. Read and discuss.
http://videogames.yahoo.com/ongoingfeature?eid=450214&page=0
Snippet:
Hollywood producer Samuel Hadida has been active in the video game convergence business since 2000, when he picked up the rights to Capcom's hit horror game, Resident Evil. With a third movie in pre-production in Mexico, Resident Evil: Extinction, and Silent Hill ready to bow at theaters, Hadida is turning his attention to the big screen adaptation of Onimusha.
"Onimusha will be an exciting movie that will be faithful to the game and to the Samurai and the 18th Century Japanese time period," said Hadida, who noted that a director for the project will be chosen in about a month. "This will be another big budget project that will have large armies, period sets, costumes, and a lot of special effects. There will be a lot of outdoor sequences, but the film will also have castles and other interior sets that will need to be designed."
On Silent Hill:
"As filmmakers, it's important that the writer and director of the film have a respect for the game and its fans," said Hadida. "With Silent Hill, both (director) Christophe Gans and (screenwriter) Roger Avary were gamers. They were fans of the Silent Hill games. They wanted to create a movie that did justice to the game and reproduce the fear and loneliness that the game purveyed."
Hadida said it's important to be faithful to the game when transferring its universe to the big screen. He said he was able to get the Silent Hill game rights from Konami amongst several big Hollywood bidders because his pitch remained true to the game's rich mythology. Konami wanted to make sure that the game's rich elements, designs, creatures, and characters were brought to the screen in an authentic way.
"Silent Hill is one of the scariest games I have ever experienced," said Hadida. "It's a step beyond anything I had seen in the cinema. Its mythology and the dimension of the storytelling has an amazing concept to translate to the big screen."
On RE:
The third Resident Evil movie is in pre-production in Mexico now. The film is slated to shoot beginning May 15 of this year. Paul Anderson has written the script and will produce the film with Impact Pictures partner Jeremy Bolt. Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) will direct Milla Jovovich in the film, which could bow as early as this November. Hadida said the story for the third film is very complex, but it will pick up after the events of the second film.
On Video Game Based Movies:
Hadida said he likes video games as source material for films. Games provide a new code for cinema and a new way to tell stories.
"In Silent Hill we do an exact reproduction of a shot from the game," said Hadida. "Games provide new stories and new visuals for a new generation of filmgoers who've grown up on gaming and Manga."
Hadida said he doesn't go out there looking solely for video game movies. What attracted him to Resident Evil was his love of horror films by masters like George Romero and Dario Argento when he was young. His son showed him the Resident Evil game and he saw that game as a way to bring a new horror franchise to film. Hadida is also a fan of Asian cinema and he sees Onimusha as a way to blend epic Asian cinema with Lord of the Rings-style special effects and scale.
There is a lot more there.
Good stuff. Read and discuss.