Originally set up at New Line since 2007 (and at one point it even had “Underworld” director Len Wiseman attached to direct), Epic Games’ would-be “Gears of War” film has now been put in turnaround by the studio (that means they’ve given up on it), and Creative Artists Agency, the agency handling the property, is currently looking for a new home. So, got a few million bucks? If so, you, too, can get to developing this thing…
Apparently slotting the live-action movie adaptation of the “Gears of War” game as a 2010 release was way too optimistic on our part, because after a lot of fits and starts, the film’s development now seems to have come to a screeching, grinding halt. The LATimes has a good rundown of what has transpired with the movie’s development so far, but the two biggest obstacles seem to be that the original script (by “Wanted” writer Chris Morgan and “State of Play’s” Billy Ray) was too big and too expensive, and would have cost studio New Line well over $100 million to produce. The studio wants something smaller, more generic sounding, like a simple alien invasion movie, and they’re currently looking for writers to adapt that idea. The other big problem is Len Wiseman, who has been attached to direct for a while now, but seems to have moved on to other projects, notably the post-apocalyptic “Nocturne” over at FOX. He’s… Continue Reading »
There’s a “Gears Of War” movie adaptation on the way, directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld) and produced by the awesomely named Wyck Godfrey. Good old Wyck believes that the main storyline of Gears, where nasty burrowing termite creatures packing heat dig themselves up out of their subterranean lairs to pew pew and maybe feast on nice human colonists on a planet far, far away, is a little too depressing for current events. “Gears of War” really takes place after aliens pop out of the ground and centers around a small squad of hardened soldiers as they try to stay alive in the urban wasteland that remains. Wyck would like to see and film the popping part. Less depressing. Wyck on Gears. The hard part is how to make it into something that doesn’t feel like a world torn asunder and people just in battle. I think we really want to focus on the idea of a world that’s running well,… Continue Reading »
A few months ago, the last time anyone heard about the progress of the videogame-to-movie “Gears of War”, it appeared as if Len Wiseman had been tossed aside like an old raggedy bear with one too indistinguishable smell. It’s a good thing for Len that, as it turns out, that isn’t true, as New Line has just announced a director and writer for their movie, and Len’s name is still attached. To be honest with you, when your name is “Len”, you pretty much have to end up directing something like “Gears of War”, don’t you? As for the script, Chris Morgan, who made us believe curving bullets was a real possibility, at least if Angelina Jolie is half-naked doing it, will collaborate with Wiseman on developing the story. I guess this means original writer Stuart Beattie’s script has been given the ol heave-ho. The Hollywood Reporter has more on the game’s story: Set on the planet Sera, the game… Continue Reading »
