SourceThe producers behind The Dark Knight and Spider-Man are teaming for Mass Effect, a live-action, big screen adaptation of the Electronic Arts-BioWare videogame.
Legendary Pictures' Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni have acquired the film rights to the game and will produce the movie along with former Marvel Studios honcho Avi Arad and his son Ari Arad. BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will serve as executive producers, as will Casey Hudson. Warner Bros. will distribute the film.
Furthermore, the producers are in negotiations with screenwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Thor) about penning the script. The Mass Effect movie is in the nascent stages of development.
"Mass Effect is a tremendous property ripe for translation to the big screen," said Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures, in a statement. "Mass Effect is a prime example of the kind of source material we at Legendary like to develop; it has depth, compelling characters and an engaging back story. This coupled with Avi and Ari producing and the skills of a great team adapting the screenplay, are the start of turning this smash videogame based property into a successful feature film."
"We are thrilled to be working with Legendary," said producer Avi Arad. "EA and BioWare are terrific partners who have created a brilliant piece of fiction with a universe filled with amazing aliens and technology. More importantly, though, they created a parable whose conflicts mirror the ones we currently face in our own world. This story emphasizes the need for all cultures to learn to work together. All this magic is presented in a fast paced action-adventure that makes for the best kind of movie experience."
"At BioWare, we've always thought of Mass Effect as having the depth, emotion and plot twists perfectly suited for an adaptation to a motion picture," said Casey Hudson. "With Legendary and Avi and Ari Arad attached, we believe that the Mass Effect movie will be an extraordinary entertainment event that realizes our vision for the franchise and thrills fans."
BioWare's epic science fiction series takes place in the year 2183 and follows Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy who leads a team on a mission to defeat an ancient alien race that invades the galaxy every 50,000 years, wiping out all organic life. The most recent game in the series, Mass Effect 2, was released in January of 2010.
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The potential for awesome is certainly there, Mass Effect has a well designed and interestingly set up universe to play with. But as many movies have proven, potential is easy enough to waste. I think it's too soon to call on this one.
