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Re: Okay, Here's My Take
Posted By: oldmano'theC	Date: 7/1/02 9:15 p.m.
In Response To: Okay, Here's My Take (Matt) : We don't have anything in particular against movies, or against the idea of : games being turned into movies. (For the purpose of this thread, assume : that when I say "movies" I'm talking about big-budget Hollywood : productions.) Just because it hasn't been done well yet doesn't mean it : can't be done. I think the problem is one of perception: videogames are : still perceived as light entertainment for the kids. In a certain sense, : they're right; the vast majority of videogames, especially the ones that : have made the jump to the big screen, are not known for their deep : storylines or conceptual brilliance. (Which is not to say those games are : not art...) "Videogame movies" load up on high-octane eye candy : to sell toys precisely because that's all that's left of most games when : you take away gameplay. No one's going to insist that the Mortal Kombat : movie compete with Chinatown in the "meaty story" department. : They just need lots of fighting. : A big part of our reluctance to sell the movie rights to any of our games : comes from the knowledge that things would be pretty much out of our hands : from that point. The degree of creative control to which we are accustomed : disappears once we sell the rights to someone else. To retain that control : while making a movie means nothing less than reinventing ourselves as a : movie studio. We want to keep making games, so that's out of the question. : We'd have to feel confident that a movie would be released (no point in : doing the deal otherwise) and that we'd be happy enough with the finished : product to have the Bungie name on it. But once it's out of our hands, : it's anyone's guess what could happen. Will they be able to interest a : brilliant director, screenwriter, DP and a cast of world-class actors in : the project? Maybe. It's just as likely, if not more so, that the project : would end up as a glitzy-but-ultimately-boring summer popcorn-seller. Or : slink out as a poorly-made B-movie that lasts a week in theaters before : heading up in the bargain DVD bin a couple months later. Or maybe never : get past the script stage. Anything could happen. "Adam Sandler : presents Adam Sandler's Halo , an Adam Sandler film starring Adam : Sandler." Think about it. : A bad movie won't cause global famine or kill anyone's grandma, but it will : be around for a long, long time... and as the people ultimately : responsible for the intellectual property, a bad movie has the potential : to negatively affect us for quite some time. I think there is a : qualitative difference between movies made to tell a meaningful story and : movies made as high-gloss action-figure commercials. Making one movie that : does both is difficult work. Jaws and The Matrix succeeded where Lost : In Space and Steven Seagal in Out For Justice failed. There's more to it : than "the eye of the beholder"; the attitudes, sensibilities and : efforts of the people making the movie are (no pun intended) paramount. If : they care, you might get something like Jaws - a big-budget summer : action movie with a brain and a heart, well-written, well-shot, : well-edited, with yeoman actors giving their best and a director who knew : what he was doing. (Forgive me, I just reread Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws : Log last week.) If they don't care, you get filmmaking-by-focus-group : like Rollerball . : Regarding Brian's "Halo is Bungie's baby, but babies grow up" : argument, all I can say is that you don't willingly leave your baby at the : daycare center run by the guy with LIVE TO KILL, KILL TO LIVE tatooed on : his forehead. Imagine a magic box. Sometimes you can put a kid in the : magic box and he or she comes out handsome and happy, carrying a bag full : of money. Most of the time, though, the kid comes out looking like Gary : Oldman in Hannibal . Hands up, who wants to put his kid in first? : People who work in the film industry are accustomed to handing their work : over and watching someone else hack it to pieces, but Bungie has never had : to do that and we are (understandably, I think) resistant to the idea. : Part of the reason we're like that is because it has worked pretty well : for us. We're happy with what we've released, and so are our fans. That : collective happiness is a direct result of our quality control, not a : reason to throw it away in the interest of shoveling more product at the : public. Obviously creative stewardship is important, so we can't hand Halo : over to the highest bidder and assume they'll find someone who will take : the same care with a movie that we took with the game. Giving Bungie : "control" of a movie directed, produced and financed by other : people is a noble idea in theory but unworkable in practice. Unless/Until : we can find someone who shares our sensibilities, there probably won't be : a Halo movie. : (Unless you count Charlie's Angels 2: Halo , currently on track for 2003 : release. ;-) : -Matt excellent exposition, and i applaud your inteGRITy! now expect about 553 posts asking WHY you don't make a Halo movie (it would fit the pattern, methinks).

Message Index

Halo The Movie...	Chris Hamilton	6/29/02 10:39 p.m.
Re: Halo The Movie...	evenpar123	6/29/02 11:11 p.m.
Re: Halo The Movie...	NthDegree256	6/29/02 11:33 p.m.
Re: Halo The Movie...	madinsaneIRClokedog	6/29/02 11:49 p.m.
Re: Halo The Movie...	fAllen[Af]	6/30/02 12:10 a.m.
Re: Halo The Movie...	Mr. Bobo	6/30/02 6:41 p.m.
No, No, NO.	Shishka	6/29/02 11:59 p.m.
Re: No, No, NO.	fAllen[Af]	6/30/02 12:12 a.m.
Re: No, No, NO.	Maxxxracer	6/30/02 12:41 a.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long)	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 2:17 a.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long)	Shishka	6/30/02 2:36 a.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long again)	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 4:51 a.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long again)	Shishka	6/30/02 11:34 a.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long again)	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 3:45 p.m.
The dreadful pedant strikes again...	Louis Wu	6/30/02 4:16 p.m.
Re: The dreadful pedant strikes again...	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 7:58 p.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long again)	Shishka	6/30/02 7:09 p.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (shorter)	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 8:25 p.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long)	Chris Hamilton	6/30/02 3:41 a.m.
Re: Yes, Yes, YES! : ) (long)-Thanks.	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 4:53 a.m.
Re: No, No, NO.	Mr. Bobo	6/30/02 6:43 p.m.
Re: No, No, NO. (he he )	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 7:56 p.m.
Re: No, No, NO. (he he )	Shishka	6/30/02 9:23 p.m.
Re: No, No, NO. (he he )	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 10:27 p.m.
It was the damn sled! *cough*	Shishka	6/30/02 10:46 p.m.
Re: It was the damn sled!(I liked the snow globe:)	Brian Josselyn	7/1/02 3:15 a.m.
Re: It was the damn sled!(I liked the snow globe:)	Shishka	7/1/02 8:37 a.m.
No, It Was The Script.	Matt	7/1/02 5:50 p.m.
Oh hey! There y'are! Question, Matt?	Shishka	7/1/02 6:09 p.m.
If I may jump in....	Mark Levin	7/1/02 6:19 p.m.
Stand By	Matt	7/1/02 6:34 p.m.
Standing by. :) *NM*	Shishka	7/1/02 7:42 p.m.
Okay, Here's My Take	Matt	7/1/02 9:06 p.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	oldmano'theC	7/1/02 9:15 p.m.
Thanks, Matt!	Shishka	7/1/02 9:32 p.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	vector40	7/1/02 11:04 p.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	Louis Wu	7/2/02 4:05 a.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	Shishka	7/2/02 8:30 a.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	Louis Wu	7/2/02 10:03 a.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	vector40	7/2/02 4:34 p.m.
Re: Okay, Here's My Take	Louis Wu	7/2/02 5:00 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script.	oldmano'theC	7/1/02 6:11 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script.	Uriel	7/1/02 6:22 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script.	Matt	7/1/02 6:58 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script...no one can take a joke	Brian Josselyn	7/2/02 12:40 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script...no one can take a joke	oldmano'theC	7/2/02 12:56 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script...no one can take a joke	Mark Levin	7/2/02 1:59 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script...no one can take a joke	oldmano'theC	7/2/02 2:15 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script.	FrogBlast	7/2/02 2:30 p.m.
Re: No, It Was The Script. (well duh?) : )	Brian Josselyn	7/2/02 12:21 p.m.
OMG I'VE GOT IT!	PanZer	6/30/02 1:50 a.m.
Re: OMG I'VE GOT IT!	Chris Hamilton	6/30/02 3:38 a.m.
Re: OMG I'VE GOT IT!	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 5:00 a.m.
Re: OMG I'VE GOT IT!	Chris Hamilton	6/30/02 6:47 a.m.
Re: OMG I'VE GOT IT!	Brian Josselyn	6/30/02 3:50 p.m.
How about...	vector40	6/30/02 4:05 a.m.