Gears Of War: The Movie?

Game to film adaptations are notorious for being shit. From complete wastes of money (Tomb Raider). To the downright depressing (Street Fighter). To what the hell were they thinking? (Super Mario Bros).
Now with Bioshock deemed way too expensive and nobody having the collateral to support Halo the world turns to Gears Of War to break the trend.

It would be way to easy to make Gears Of War as a straight-up action film. The game essentially consists of killing one group of aliens after another. The plot is paper-thin but that’s what makes the game so enjoyable. It seems producer Wyck Godfrey wants a bit more depth than that and is currently talking about the potential of the film as an origins story.

He is very keen to focus on a time hinted at in the game known as “Emergence Day”. This term refers to the beginning of the war depicted in the two games. When the aliens, who are known as the Locusts first attacked the human race. Talking to MakingOf.com he had this to say…

“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, and then it’s Emergence Day and kind of make it impactful and immediate and the survival of those 48 hours as people survive Emergence Day. It’s more like ‘Cloverfield’ or something like that. Because trying to tell the epic story of an alien planet that’s living in a horrific environment just feels like the wrong mood right now”

It’s fair to say that the best place to start is at the beginning. Starting the Gears Of War franchise from Emergence Day sounds like a smart move to me. I quite like the idea of the film actually having a plot and shooting the film this way could add some much needed depth. I do have one problem with the project though. Len Wiseman is directing it. The man that gave us Underworld 1 & 2 and Die Hard 4. Three films that have no discernable plot at all. I honestly don’t think Wiseman is up to the task of making a Gears Of War film with depth. It’s like asking Michael Bay to remake Wuthering Heights!

Tags: Games, Gears of War, len wiseman