J.J. Abrams has confirmed he is working with Valve co-founder Gabe Newell on a Half-Life movie adaptation, with a Portal adaptation also rumoured.
The Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Wars: Episode VII director admits that the Half-Life and Portal movie projects are only in their early stages, but the plans are “as real as anything in Hollywood ever gets.”
“We really are talking to Valve, we are going to be bringing on a writer, we have a lot of very exciting ideas,” said Abrams in an interview with video game website Polygon.
“Both a Portal and Half-Life movie are things I want to see. We’re also aware of the cautionary tales of movies that became games and vice versa. Our goal here is to treat the world Valve has created in both these properties like anyone would a book or some great story that comes from a pitch or original script – just to treat it with the respect they treat their games and their players with.”
Abrams and Newell gave a talk at the D.I.C.E summit in Las Vegas on the storytelling differences between games and movies, briefing mentioning Half-Life and Portal adaptations as almost a flyaway comment, but it seems there was truth in the remark.
The comedic elements of the Portal games would certainly lend themselves well to the movie screen, with the featured protagonist Chell challenged to solve an increasingly difficult puzzle series set by the sadistically black-humoured artificial intelligence, GLaDOS.
The Half-Life series on the other hand could get lost within the huge alien-invaded Earth movie genre, and it is something Newell has been apprehensive about in the past. The much-celebrated series is set in an alien-infected Earth after a science experiment into parallel worlds goes catastrophically wrong, with the protagonist Gordan Freeman having to fight his way out of the Black Mesa research facility.
Both games feature voiceless protagonists in a very linear first person game, so how they would translate to film will be something fans will have to wait for.
The news of the Half-Life movie may anger fans still waiting for the release of Half-Life 2 Episode 3, nearly six years after Half-Life 2 Episode 2 was launched.
Would you be excited to see a Half-Life movie in production? Do you think J.J. Abrams can do justice to the Half-Life series? Give us your thoughts on the Trusted Reviews Twitter and Facebook pages or the comments section below.
Via: Polygon
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.