Popular futuristic sci-fi video game franchise Mass Effect is now in motion to have a more massive effect -- on the big screen. Legendary Pictures along with co-producers Avi and Ari Arad (who've helped bring many a Marvel hero to the movies) have picked up the rights and will bring Mass Effect to life with help Legendary's Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni. I Am Legend adapter and Thor co-writer Mark Protosevich is being sought after to write the screenplay.
Mass Effect fans should be excited as the film could not be in better hands. The Arads have created more than their fair share of successful franchises and Legendary has put the likes of The Dark Knight and 300 on the big screen. Yet THR's Heat Vision blog suggests the source of inspiration and confidence for this adaptation to work is none other than Avatar, which made aliens/other life-forms much more viable for blockbuster potential.
The game, which debuted in 2008 on Xbox 360, has a familiar sci-fi plot at its core, focusing on Commander Shepard, an inter-galactic soldier who traverses the galaxy on the SSV Normandy. The story is complex, involves lots aliens and doesn't take place on Earth. Normally these would all be red lights, but with the success of Avatar and Star Trek, most concerns are alleviated pretty easily. Tull said Mass Effect's story has "depth, compelling characters and an engaging back story" while Avi Arad said it is "a parable whose conflicts mirror the ones we currently face in our own world." BioWare's Casey Hudson, who created the game, had always felt it had movie potential. Hudson along with BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will co-executive produce.
Now let's start casting, even though I fear Shepard's uncanny resemblance to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson might make this a pointless conversation.
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