September
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Mass Effect movie rights optioned by Avi Arad
"Mass Effect" has started its journey to the big screen. Numerous sources have confirmed that producer Avi Arad has optioned the rights to Bioware's sci-fi RPG from the developer's parent publisher Electronic Arts.
Turning "Mass Effect" into a movie, or at least trying to do so, is pretty much a no-brainer. Even those who didn't love it would have to admit that it has a lot more meat to its narrative than most games. You've got a hard-ass protagonist, a crusty bureaucracy trying to hold him back, a motley supporting cast, a hugely diverse (if a bit similar looking) bunch of settings, and an alien invasion fueled by technology that nobody but our hero fully understands.
Those are certainly a lot of standard elements for a science-fiction movie. Though "Mass Effect, rather intriguingly, has a main character whose look and personality and even gender can, to some extent, be shaped by the player. So the makers of a movie will have to figure out just who exactly Commander Shephard is.
Arad was for a long time the head of Marvel's movie business, where he helped start the new wave of actually good comic book movie franchises like "X-Men," "Spider-Man," and "Iron Man" (OK, there was "Spider-Man 3" and "Elektra" and "Ghost Rider," but there's still no denying Marvel movies are much improved). Now he runs his own production company and has been getting into videogame adaptations, starting recently with "Lost Planet."
Both EA and Arad declined to comment, but it's a good bet that Avi is right now trying to put together the elements to get a movie going, including a writer, director, and most importantly, setting it up at a studio. When and if that happens, we'll have a lot more insight into just what kind of a movie "Mass Effect" might be.
As for EA, this fits well into its strategy of turning its fully-owned games into multi-media properties (witness the "Dead Space" direct-to-DVD movie, comic books, etc.) Not that there was really any doubt when it spent $860 million to buy Bioware and Pandemic, but I'd say a movie deal is even more evidence that "Mass Effect 2" is in on the way from EA.
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Chris Morris reports on the business and culture of video games and offers analysis of recent events and industry trends.
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The Mass Effect world is massive! I would like to see a movie, no question....they would probably have to do it as a trilogy. What I think would be amazing is a Mass Effect TV series done like Battlestar Galactica was done. So much material could easily fill in a good 5 seasons if not more!
Posted by: Shane | July 05, 2009 at 01:25 PM
Hmmmm... Well you can be a male or female in Mass Effect.. I think some people are gonna judge the male gendre when the game releases. Like i wanted a Female Shepard and stuff like that
Posted by: kamas | June 08, 2009 at 01:19 AM
Great game, and it would make a great movie. I wonder what gender the Commander is gonna be.. And if they're gonna include any of the romance in the game, which is a high possibility. Great future for this movie in my op.
Posted by: Brandon | April 14, 2009 at 07:56 PM
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Posted by: holic online money | March 11, 2009 at 10:05 PM
the obvious choice would probably have to be matthew fox. he looks exactly like shepard
Posted by: Eduardo | February 28, 2009 at 06:59 PM
the movie doesn't have to be based on the game. Neither book had much to do with the game. i'd like to see different events from the same time line or events from the first contact war.
Posted by: erin | January 30, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Enough with the video game movies. 99% of them are downright awful. Stop it, please.
Posted by: Eric | September 22, 2008 at 08:15 AM
Mass Effect is a great story. From its well written dialog, the games characters and character development will entice all who watch. I'm currently in my third run through on its game platform. To have Mass Effect become a movie will be quite epic. Its handling and development of advanced cybernetic life, such as the Geth, is sure to steal the interest of all futurist. I do hope for Mass Effect's future. I do hope it becomes one very incredible larger-than-life movie; one that will surpasses even the intricacy of Chronicles of Riddick.
Posted by: Robert | September 21, 2008 at 10:42 PM
Hmmmm... Well you can be a male or female in Mass Effect.. I think some people are gonna judge the male gendre when the game releases. Like i wanted a Female Shepard and stuff like that
Bur i think its awesome im playing the game for the 3rd time already
Posted by: Wes | September 19, 2008 at 12:32 AM
Marvel movies haven't improved...still garbage
This movie has great potential
Posted by: Black Mask | September 18, 2008 at 10:44 PM