RIOT VIDEO GAME
SET FOR HOLLYWOOD
Copyright 2002 www.scotsman.com
[ February 22nd 2002 ]
The makers
of the Oscar-nominated Lord of the Rings have
announced plans to turn a controversial computer
game by a small Scottish company into a Hollywood
film. New Line Cinema, one of the biggest names
in the US movie industry, wants to adapt State
of Emergency, made by Vis Entertainment, for the
big screen.
The game,
which goes on sale in the UK today, has already
angered anti-violence campaigners with its graphic
depiction of street riots. The big-budget film
will be produced by Warren Zide and Craig Perry,
the team behind the American Pie films. "To be
able to create an action movie that appeals to
young audiences based on a highly successful video
game is something we've been looking for, and
State of Emergency is a perfect fit," Mr Zide
said.
The film
would have a budget of $ 30-50 million (GBP 21-35
million), he added, and a big-name star, possibly
the professional wrestler the Rock. It is expected
to have a restricted certificate, similar to an
18 in the UK. Mr Zide told The Scotsman: "This
is a major movie for us and we are hoping for
a big Friday night release."
The film's
plot will follow that of the game, which is based
on the player taking the role of a "freedom operative",
fighting the influence of an all -powerful corporation.
The action includes street riots, where the player
is rewarded for killing as many people as possible
in the shortest length of time. Players can pick
up items such as metal bins and park benches,
as well as rocket launchers and machine guns,
to kill "corporate enforcers", who look like riot
police, and destroy property.
The State
of Emergency game has already been given an 18
certificate by the British Board of Film Classification
to prevent children getting their hands on the
product. However, it is not yet known if the film
will contain equally violent images. Chris van
der Kuyl, president of Vis, based in Dunfermline,
Fife, said the film adaptation would be worth
millions of pounds to the company, if successful.
He said: "State of Emergency is the biggest product
we have ever made, and it's too early to say how
much the film will be worth to us, but obviously
we are very optimistic." Vis will be involved
at every stage of the film's creation, which will
go into pre-production straight away.
The game
has already received rave reviews from the computer
industry. Play magazine described it as "an important
milestone in the evolution of gaming", and it
was the highest selling pre-release product on
Amazon. com last week. But a spokesman for Mediawatch-UK,
formerly known as the National Viewers and Listeners
Association, condemned the game for rewarding
players for murdering innocent bystanders. "It
is very unhelpful that the game has so much violence.
It will add to the culture of violence we already
suffer," he said.
A spokesman
for Vis declined to comment on State Of Emergency's
graphic content and referred all questions to
the US firm Rockstar Games, which is publishing
the game. The company could not be reached for
comment yesterday.
State
of Emergency is the latest in a line of games
to be made into films. Tomb Raider, starring Angelina
Jolie as Lara Croft, Final Fantasy, Street Fighter,
Mortal Kombat and Super Mario Brothers, which
starred Bob Hoskins in the lead role, have all
made the transition from the games console to
the cinema screen.
The computer
games business is one of the fastest-growing industries
in the UK. In 2001, the market was worth GBP 1.6
billion, a rise of 36 per cent on the previous
year. The best-selling titles sell millions of
copies around the world.
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