[_____V_____]

Deus Ex
Status: Dormant

It's been a long time since we've picked up any blips about Deus Ex on our radar. There hasn't been a new game in the series in a while, and the last time we heard anything about a movie version was 2003. At last report, Deus Ex was being produced by Laura Ziskin for Columbia Pictures. Greg Pruss had penned a script that painted the character of J.C. Denton in a somewhat darker light. He told IGN that he would be "a little bit filthier than he was in the game." Eidos' vice president of marketing, Paul Baldwin, was quoted as saying, "We are excited to continue our success of extending our original IP to film. Tomb Raider was highly successful, as will be Deus Ex..." The story would follow the Denton character, an agent of the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition, facing a world of terrorism, treason and techno-conspiracy. Might it still happen? Sure, but at present, all signs point to no.


Devil May Cry
Status: Optioned

Tokyo-based film distributor Gaga Communications has signed a deal with Capcom to adapt Devil May Cry into a live-action feature film with a budget of around $40 million. The film's story could center on the game's central character, Dante, a maverick bounty hunter who takes on jobs involving devils and other dark creatures. When the movie deal was originally announced, Devil May Cry was slated for a 2005 production start... obviously, that's come and gone and there's been no further activity. Not a good sign, but you never know. The videogame franchise seems to be going strong, with Devil May Cry 4 having hit consoles last year. We'll be watching to see what happens.


Doom 2
Status: Unknown

The first Doom movie didn't particularly strike chord with fans of the series or casual audiences. Despite that, there have been vague rumblings of a sequel for several years now. Universal still holds the rights to the franchise. id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead suggested that a Doom sequel might be based on the events of the upcoming Doom 4 game. That remains to be seen, but until Doom 4 hits shelves Universal will probably be keeping the Doom movies on the back burner.


Driver
Status: In Development

Rogue Pictures has acquired the movie rights to Driver, Oscar-winning writer-director Roger Avary's big-screen adaptation of the Atari videogame. Rogue picked up Driver from Constantin Film and Impact Pictures, the forces behind the Resident Evil movies. Avary, who wrote Silent Hill, is penning the script and may direct. Previous iterations of the screenplay were written by James DeMonaco, Todd Harthan and James Roday. Driver centers on a getaway driver for hire, the best in the heist biz, who is put to the test on a job.


Duke Nukem
Status: Dormant

Hail to the king, baby! It could've been cool back in the day, but this long-rumored project is well past its prime. However, Threshold Entertainment still has the movie rights to Duke Nukem. They had even setup an official website for the flick at one time -- it's now down. The studio had hooked up with Dimension Films and was planning, as of late 2001, to turn the property into a PG-13 film set in outer space... but that was ages ago, and we're guessing that the Duke movie is as dead as Duke Nukem Forever. R.I.P.


Eternal Darkness
Status: Unknown

The rights to a big-screen or small-screen adaptation of Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem were bought by production company Hypnotic back in 2003. The game follows the unlucky paths of 12 humans chosen to defend the planet against an ancient race of evil foes. The title's story spans 2,000 years and takes players through historically accurate locations, deals with dark themes such as "magick" and murder, and more. The game's unique "sanity" system, which measures a character's sanity level and causes him or her to hallucinate when it dips below a certain level, remains one of the spookiest, most clever additions in software today.


Fallout
Status: Possibly In Development

The Fallout franchise was always a cult favorite among PC gamers, but Fallout became a household name last year when Fallout 3 landed on both the PC and major consoles. The series features the ever-popular post-apocalyptic setting that could easily be translated to film. And now it appears that developer Bethesda hopes to do just that. Last April Bethesda filed a patent that covers the brand for both television and film.

That's a long way from actual development, but it is a hopeful sign for fans. We just hope studios will bite, and that the ongoing legal trouble between Bethesda and Interplay won't put a damper on a Fallout movie.


Fatal Frame
Status: Dormant

DreamWorks had hired a pair of scribes to adapt Tecmo's survival-horror game for the big screen, but we're fairly certain this one is on ice. John Rogers, screenwriter of The Core, was producing the flick which would have followed Miku, a girl searching for her brother -- a reporter who goes missing while working on a story about a haunted mansion where three grisly murders took place. Miku is armed only with a Polaroid camera. To stop the evil spirits she must photograph them, exposing them to a bright flash of light and capturing them inside the camera. Steven Spielberg was said to be personally involved in shepherding the project, but DreamWorks is a different kind of animal now, and he's got bigger fish to fry these days.


Fear Effect
Status: Unknown

Here's what we said back in 2007:

"The movie version of Eidos' Fear Effect appears close to getting underway. 'The film should begin production later this year,' Mark A. Altman, one of the producers, tells IGN. 'We just got in a new draft of the script that we're very happy with and we think this is a terrific franchise and we're looking at some big stars for our leads: Royce Glas, Deke, Rain and Hana. What I love about the film is that it starts off a thriller, almost an espionage film, and becomes something else -- something much more dark and scary. Sort of The Dirty Dozen Meets Silent Hill,' Altman said. Mindfire Entertainment is shooting the flick later this year. A 2008 release is possible."

Clearly that 2008 release never happened. Momentum on Fear Effect appears to have halted, and given the series ten-year absence from the gaming industry, we're not ready to assume it'll be picking back up.


Gears of War
Status: In Development

Shooters seem to have a better track record than most gaming genres when it comes to making it to Hollywood. Gears of War is one of several such projects in development at the moment. At one point The Rock was expected to star as one of Gears' hyper-muscled action heroes, but that rumor seems to have been shot down.

After slowing in the wake of the writer's strike last year, Gears looks to be moving forward again. Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) is attached to direct and Chris Morgan (Wanted) has turned in a script. Recently we learned that screenwriter Billy Ray has also been brought in, most likely to rewrite Morgan's earlier draft.

Gears could easily see the light of day in the next few years, but at the moment it's too early to say whether New Line will put the film on the fast track or relegate it to the back burner.


The Getaway
Status: Unknown

Back in 2003, Sony Screen Gems picked up the film rights to the popular PS2 game, The Getaway. The story centers on Mark Hammond and Frank Carter, two men on opposite sides of the law who are both out to bring down London's legendary crime boss Charlie Jolson. Those who have played the game will know that it is practically a movie already. This project has been silent for a while, though, and a Screen Gems rep told IGN that they were unaware of the project. But there is a third installment in the game series scheduled for release on the PlayStation 3. That could heat things up again.


God of War
Status: In Development

Given that the God of War franchise is already like a big-budget action series, it's no surprise that a film adaptation is gathering momentum. Last year Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand, Rush Hour) confirmed he's involved with the project and is waiting for a script to be green-lit by Universal before moving forward.

And recent word suggests that a potential script may already exist. David Self (Road to Perdition) has written a draft that follows the events of the first God of War very closely. However, as we reported back in July, there may be a few key changes to the plot that could upset fans of lead hero Kratos. We'll see if these changes survive into the final script and if Ratner himself remains attached as Universal moves forward with the movie.


Grand Theft Auto
Status: Unknown

Grand Theft Auto is a franchise we would have assumed studios would be leaping at the chance to adapt to film. The games have become increasingly cinematic over the years and already feature a number of popular Hollywood actors in voice roles. However, despite vague rumblings over the years, there are currently no plans to produce a GTA film. Perhaps the graphic content of the games and the movie's guaranteed R-rating are a turnoff to many studios.