3) Metal Gear Solid (TBA)
Though story wasn’t a huge factor in the original 1987 Metal Gear game, as the franchise progressed, it became increasingly cinematic. By the time we got to Metal Gear Solid 4, half the experience involved putting the controller down, grabbing a drink and watching cutscenes, and fans had absolutely no issue with that considering how engaging the story was. Clearly, the transition to films should not be a difficult one.
Like many video game adaptations, Metal Gear Solid has been in the works for a ridiculously long time. It was announced by Hideo Kojima all the way back in 2006, but around 2010 production suddenly stalled. At the time, it sounded like Kojima was rethinking the idea of making a Metal Gear movie altogether, as producer Michael De Luca explained to Collider.
“Video game companies are very protective of their property and there are certain things a studio requires freedom-wise to market and distribute a movie effectively in a global marketplace and sometimes getting those two things to match up is really hard,” De Luca said. “It was just kind of impossible to get the agendas to match up.”
Years later, though, production was revived, and in 2014, Jordan Vogt-Roberts (The Kings of Summer) boarded as director. Later, Jay Basu (Monsters: Dark Continent) was hired as screenwriter.
This is one of those no-brainer adaptations that could so obviously be good if put in the right hands. It remains to be seen if relative newcomer Vogt-Roberts’ hands are the right ones, but we’ll know more when his Kong: Skull Island hits theaters next year.