Sony Working on a Shadow of the Colossus Movie

Posted by on April 8th, 2009   Filed under: Fantasy, Games
Source: Coming Soon

shadowcolossusmovie

Just when you thought that all of the decent video game properties had already been optioned for the big screen in one way or another, Sony decides to bring one back from the vaults that many people had forgotten about (at least I know I did). Shadow of the Colossus was a fantastic game released for the Playstation 2 back in 2005, winning a ton of awards and a 91% rating on Metacritic. Variety reports that Justin Marks (aka the ultimate screenwriting prodigy of our time) will write the movie with Kevin Misher (The Scorpion King, Fighting, Public Enemies) in talks to produce for Sony.

The game had a quiet beauty to it, as the main protagonist rode on horseback trying to defeat 16 stone giants in order to save the life of a girl. Essentially, it was just 16 boss fights with nothing in between. There’s a certain mythic structure and cinematic style to it that could translate well to the big screen, but I have to admit, based on the names involved, I already have my doubts about this project. Most of Misher’s previous films lack any subtlety whatsoever, and despite all the praise we’ve heard for Justin Marks and his fabulous scripts for He-Man, Voltron, and Hack/Slash, he’s only had one movie make it to theatres so far: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Yep, he’s pretty brilliant alright. What do you think, can Sony pull off a decent Shadow of the Colossus movie?



  • Jason B

    I loved the game and I agree that these writers aren’t too promising but if they get a good director then maybe he’ll chop out all the ridiculous over-writing of these two. Someone like Guillermo Del Toro would be perfect for this movie. I think it would be interesting to see him tackle something with a bit more quiet subtlety.

  • That picture makes me want to play the game.

  • Dugen

    I couldn’t agree with Jason B more

  • Matt

    This could be the first video game art film…

  • It could be, if they maintained the feel of the game. But according to Ben Fritz at Variety that’s not looking likely:

    “I understand the folks working on the project are planning to have some of the characters who appear only momentarily in the game, such as those who try to track down and stop Wander, play bigger roles in the film. And despite the game’s somewhat “artsy” cred, they’re hoping “Shadow” will be a “Lord of the Rings”-style fantasy tentpole.”

    http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2009/04/shadow-of-the-colossus-movie-in-development.html

  • Oh mam. Theres no way the currently attached people can capture the beauty and subtlety of that game. It’s probably my favorite game of all time, and I’m not one to completely write off video game movies normally but this isn’t looking promising at all. Our only hope is that they get a director that can bring a unique visual style to it.

  • Wait a second, are you saying you think Hollywood might totally crap all over a videogame-inspired movie? Now, what would ever give you that idea?

  • Never in a million years will this movie be good, but damn that game is straight up beautiful. Definitely check it out if you haven’t yet.

  • Let’s just ignore this project from now on and continue waiting with bated breath for whatever game Team Ico decides to make next.

  • Matt

    I reckon there going to bungle it up. They always do.