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Half-Life
Status: Dormant

Developers Valve Software have shopped the movie rights to Half-Life around Hollywood, but we're not aware of any serious bites. The acclaimed shooter, first released for the PC in the late '90s, follows a scientist named Gordan Freeman who works in an underground military research facility. When a dangerous experiment goes terrifyingly wrong, a dimensional rift is opened and ghoulish monsters are released into the Earthly realm. Freeman must fight his way back to the surface, destroying the deadly creatures and going up against a military clean-up crew that is unconcerned with his rescue. The story has continued in a number of sequels. Half-Life: Episode 3 is currently in development, and when that finally hits the PC we imagine interest in a movie will grow.


Halo
Status: In Development

For years a Halo movie has come tantalizingly close to production before dropping out of the limelight again. Despite the franchise immense popularity and rumored involvement of both Peter Jackson and Stephen Spielberg, the film can't seem to find solid footing.

Director Neil Blomkamp (District 9) actually filmed a short, live-action Halo movie in conjunction with the release of Halo 3. His name has frequently been attached to the feature film along with Jackson as producer. However, he recently indicated that his involvement may be over. Another recent rumor suggesting Spielberg might himself direct a Halo movie were shot down by Microsoft, who said they're choosing to concentrate on Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach for the time being.

The film has seen several script treatments so far, but it remains to be seen if any of the previous producers and screenwriters attached to the project will remain on the inevitable day a Halo movie does go forward.


Hunter: The Reckoning
Status: Unknown

Hunter: The Reckoning is actually based on a pen-and-paper role-playing game from White Wolf that was later turned into a videogame by Vivendi Universal Games. The story traces a group of humans who hunt down monsters... ripe enough for us. Vivendi Universal made a deal, not with the devil, but with director Uwe Boll to bring the property to the big screen. That said... Boll is not listing the project on his personal development slate, but it may yet get rolling.


Kane & Lynch
Status: Pre-production

The Kane and Lynch movie seems to be moving right along, which is a nice change from the usual troubled development phase. Hitman producer Adrian Askarieh is attached to the film. Bruce Willis is slated to star as Kane. His partner Lynch is still up for grabs, though Billy Bob Thornton is often rumored for the role. Willis reportedly loved the script, which gives us hope for the final product.

Former stunt coordinator Simon Crane will be directing the movie with filming expected to start in March 2010. Assuming nothing goes wrong, we could be watching a Kane and Lynch movie in late 2010 or early 2011.


Mass Effect
Status: Optioned

Though the mainstream press only recognizes Mass Effect for its supposedly controversial sex scenes, gamers love Mass Effect for its cinematic production values and strong storyline and characters. Those hoping that Mass Effect might unfold on screen as a 21st Century Star Wars have a little more reason to be excited these days. Avi Arad, former CEO of Marvel Studios, has optioned the rights for Mass Effect. Arad is also currently developing the anime/manga series Ghost in the Shell as a live-action film. There's no telling which of these projects will be green-lit first, if at all, but we can certainly hope.


Mechwarrior
Status: In Development

If there's one thing lacking Hollywood action movies these days, it's satisfying mech combat. Leave it to an unknown film like District 9 to finally end the drought. Gamers may be able to look forward to more Hollywood mech battles in the future as well. The Mechwarrior series, though long dormant in Hollywood, recently received a shot in the arm thanks to Michael Eisner's Tornate Production Company.

Following the commercial success of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, screenwriter Michael Gordon has been brought on board to pen a script. The developing film may go hand in hand with a relaunch of the game series, which itself has been out of the limelight for a while.


Metal Gear Solid
Status: In Development

Sony Pictures holds the rights to Metal Gear Solid, which has been one of the most lucrative franchises for Sony's games division. Recent reports all seem to suggest that the official title of the project is Metal Gear Solid, not simply Metal Gear, suggesting the film will focus on the more modern exploits of super-spy Solid Snake.

Last year, it was reported that Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, Ultraviolet) was slated to helm the movie. Ironically, Snake's voice actor, David Hayter, is also an accomplished screenwriter, having penned the first two X-Men movies and The Scorpion King. Hayter actually drafted a treatment for a potential film last year, though last we word series creator Hideo Kojima shot it down.

Given the continued strength of the franchise and Kojima's personal involvement in development of the film, we imagine the project will eventually move into production. However, there may be a bit of a wait ahead of us.


Metroid
Status: Dormant

Few studios have even attempted to bring Nintendo's iconic lineup of characters to Hollywood. We imagine the Super Mario Bros. movie taught everyone a very important lesson. Metroid and its bounty-hunting heroine Samus Aran are arguably the most well-suited for film, and Metroid is the lone Nintendo project that seems to have made any headway in Hollywood.

However, even Samus may have given up hopes of big screen stardom. The last major Metroid announcement we heard was that John Woo (Mission Impossible 2) was attached to direct – in 2004. It's probably safe to assume that isn't happening anymore. For now, fans will have to stick to their consoles for future Metroid adventures.


Nightmare Creatures
Status: Unknown

This project was announced all the way back in Y2K, but it never really got off the ground. The guy who directed Disney's Dinosaur was attached, but it doesn't look like things are going to move forward. The planned story for the film centered on brilliant master surgeon Adam Crowley who is shunned by his medical contemporaries for his gruesomely unorthodox experiments. In seclusion, Crowley learns to regenerate his own failing body and creates a hellish brood of monsters who invade London. But his plan to scientifically alter the course of evolution is threatened by his most perfect creation.


Onimusha
Status: Optioned

The movie rights to Capcom's Onimusha are currently optioned by Davis Entertainment where Chairman John Davis is producing. Davis produced Eragon and the Alien vs. Predator sequel. Noboru Sugimura, who has penned the script for the Onimusha games, among others, is taking a stab at the screenplay. Right now the film isn't in development, but if it were to happen we wouldn't likely see it in theaters until sometime in the next decade.


Pac-Man
Status: Optioned

Crystal Sky Entertainment and Japanese distributor Gaga have gobbled up the movie rights to the videogame that started it all, Pac-Man. The studio plans to turn the classic arcade franchise into a "live-action fantasy adventure." Just how they'll do that is yet to be seen. No writer or director is attached to the project at this time. Unfortunately, there's been little to no activity on this one since it was first announced, but it could come to life at any time. We can't even imagine how anyone could pull this off, but we'd love to see it.


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Status: Post-production

Last time we visited Prince of Persia in this feature, Jerry Bruckheimer had involved himself with the project and things were looking rosy for the heroic prince. Several years later, Prince of Persia has proven to be one of those rare exceptions that doesn't peter out midway through development. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is currently slated for release on May 28, 2010.

The film is being distributed by Disney, who hope that the franchise can draw in the same numbers as the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Prince Dastan, and Gemma Artenton plays his female companion, Princess Tamina. Ben Kingsley fills the role of antagonist. As the movie's subtitle suggests, the film is based on the events of the like-titled videogame.

If Sands of Time is as successful as Disney hopes, we can probably expect a string of sequels in the coming years. It should be interesting to see if those sequels follow the course of the games or set out on their own.


Psi-Ops
Status: Dormant

Producers Adrian Askarieh and Chuck Gordon picked up the movie rights to Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy back in August 2004, but Askarieh tells us that the project is no longer active. The Midway game follows a gifted Psi-Operative who infiltrates a dangerous terrorist group by having his memory erased and allowing himself to be captured. As his memory slowly returns, he recalls his unique abilities and uses them to thwart the group's deadly plans. The producers had hoped to tie the film's release into the game's sequel, but it seems that plans for the game and the film were shelved after the title's limited success in the market.