We all know that art mimics life, and most video games mimic film, but does it become redundant when film mimics games mimicking film? Earlier this year, the highly anticipated cinematic PlayStation 3 game Heavy Rain was released, which follows several people in a rainy metropolitan area whose lives are affected by a serial killer.
The game’s main attraction is its rich storyline and deep (and sometimes boring) cutscenes that move it along. It looks like a few studio heads have decided to swap the computer-generated characters with real actors, as former New Line execs Bob Shaye and Michael Lynn, now of Unique Pictures, have recently picked up the rights to adapt the game into a full-length feature. From Deadline Hollywood:
Using their own money, Shaye and Lynne posted top bid in an auction held by CAA on behalf of game developers Quantic Dream.
Heavy Rain has sold 1 million units since its release in February. Players hunt the “Origami Killer,” a serial murderer who drowns his victims four days after they are abducted, leaving only a small origami figure and an orchid on the corpse. The game becomes a procedural in which four characters try to solve the crime after another potential victim is kidnapped.
Unique has a first look deal with Warner Bros, but Shaye liked it enough to use his own money and not wait for approval to buy it. A deal should be sealed shortly.
Those who have played the game realize that this isn’t all that necessary, seeing as how the game plays out like a complete movie on it’s own. But with its one-dimensional voice work and the possibility of a cool Saw-like franchise, it only makes sense that a studio would be willing to scoop it up.
