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[Matt_09]

Direct Link: http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/newsstory.asp?news_id=16907

Just because most video-game-to-movie transfers are so feeble that watching them is more painful than swallowing a PlayStation controller, doesn’t mean that Hollywood’s going to stop churning them out. With the long-awaited Doom finally on the horizon, 20th Century Fox have greenlit the movie version of Max Payne, one of the most popular shoot-’em-up franchises around.

Unlike the Doom games, which put occult-stoked atmosphere and grisly monsters centre-stage, the adventures of Max Payne made the hero the star. A laconic New York City cop, Payne’s life is turned upside-down when his family is slain and he’s framed for the murders. Pursued by both his former colleagues and underground villains, he seeks vengeance the only way computer-game characters know how — with an arsenal of guns individually larger than your average NYC apartment. The labyrinthine plot takes in drug rings, military conspiracies and voodoo-practising gangsters, as Max tries to burrow into the inner circle of the city’s crime syndicate.

On the plus side, the franchise has more character work and story for filmmakers to work with than 99 per cent of video games. On the down side, this adaptation could be just a little redundant. The games are so influenced by cinema anyway — most obviously with their bullet-time sequences and John Woo-style action — that expecting fans to shell out cash to watch their hero onscreen, when they can be him at home for free, might be asking too much. The box office success (or otherwise) of Doom should give some indication of whether it'll succeed.

Just found this over at Empireonline. I'm not a fan of VideoGame --> Movie adaptations, but Max Payne does lend itself well to cinema. In the right hands *cough David Fincher* i think this could really be a great movie.

What do you guys & gals think about this news? Good or Bad? Who would you like to see as Max? Any directors jump to mind?

*If this should have been posted in the off-topic i apologise*

 

[Kiriku]

Sin City style would rock.

 

[Speevy]

Whichever director can suggest sustaining bullet time for 120 minutes.

 

[DarienA]

Direct Link: http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/newsstory.asp?news_id=16907





Just found this over at Empireonline. I'm not a fan of VideoGame --> Movie adaptations, but Max Payne does lend itself well to cinema. In the right hands *cough David Fincher* i think this could really be a great movie.

What do you guys & gals think about this news? Good or Bad? Who would you like to see as Max? Any directors jump to mind?

*If this should have been posted in the off-topic i apologise*

My biggest problem is that Hollywood seems to have trouble making good dramaction movies... (drama/action movies).... they overdue the drama which makes these HUGE lulls between the action.

Max Payne was fun and the story does lend itself to the movie screen... but I have concerns based on the liberties taken with the script and then who gets the directing chair.

 

[Matt_09]

^^Good Call.

If the director focuses on the story and characters rather than turning it into an action franchise a'la Alien Vs. Predator, it could work very well. As the article says, the games style is very cinematic, but in the wrong hands it could easily suck.

 

[Borys]

Max Payne thriller would rock.
Max Payne action flick would not - game does the action part great if not the best way possible.

 

[VictimOfGrief]

2nd. Max Payne Sin City flava would rock.

 

[Mallrat83]

The games are so influenced by cinema anyway — most obviously with their bullet-time sequences and John Woo-style action — that expecting fans to shell out cash to watch their hero onscreen, when they can be him at home for free, might be asking too much. The box office success (or otherwise) of Doom should give some indication of whether it'll succeed.

Video games are free now? Where the hell have I been?

 

[WHOAguitarninja]

The games are so influenced by cinema anyway — most obviously with their bullet-time sequences and John Woo-style action — that expecting fans to shell out cash to watch their hero onscreen, when they can be him at home for free, might be asking too much. The box office success (or otherwise) of Doom should give some indication of whether it'll succeed.

Video games are free now? Where the hell have I been?

Not to mention that's some back-assward logic right there. This would probably be the first videogame movie I'd ever had any interest in seeing.

 

[Juice]

Watching Sin City I couldn't get the noir theme of Max Payne 2 out of my head.

If anything's redundant, it'll be Max Payne 2 in a post-Sin City world.