Whore of the Orient is LA Noire director's next game

George Miller's KMM studio has picked up the rights to LA Noire director Brendan McNamara's new script, titled Whore of the Orient.

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George Miller may be best known for his work on Mad Max, Mel Gibson's futuristic action flick. However, he's found success with Happy Feet, and most recently, Happy Feet Two.

Ever since LA Noire developer Team Bondi closed its doors, Miller's studio, KMM, picked up many of the pieces. KMM is now home to a number of Team Bondi developers, including controversial director Brendan McNamara, who is now working on a new game for Miller, currently titled Whore of the Orient.

LA Noire impressed Miller so much that not only did he pick up the rights to McNamara's new game, which he previously dubbed "one of the greatest untold stories of the twentieth century," but he's given development duties of the Mad Max video game to McNamara's team as well.

Given the dramatic fallout surrounding LA Noire's release, why is KMM so confident about Team Bondi's ability to perform now? It's all about the money. "With the government’s support we can immediately go forward with two games," KMM's Doug Mitchell explained to Financial Review (via Develop). In addition, Mad Max publisher Warner Bros. is gung-ho about Mad Max, as "the potential in the video games sector is massive... the cost of a film may be $170 million – twice that to market it – whereas the basic cost of making a game might be 10% of that."

So what has the remains of Team Bondi been up to since its acquisition of KMM? Well, apparently, they helped work on Miller's film about dancing penguins. "What’s fascinating, though, is that Team Bondi immediately went to work on Happy Feet Two," Miller explained. "People can move from a game to a movie and be completely at home, because it’s the same skills, process – the same game."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 28, 2011 6:30 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Whore of the Orient is LA Noire director's next game.

    George Miller's KMM studio has picked up the rights to LA Noire director Brendan McNamara's new script, titled Whore of the Orient.

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      November 28, 2011 6:36 AM

      lol title

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      November 28, 2011 6:43 AM

      "he's found success with Happy Feet, and most recently, Happy Feet Two"

      Actually, Happy Feet Two went way over budget and tanked at the box office, leading to widespread layoffs at Miller's company.

      http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/layoffs-following-happy-feet-two-flopping/

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        November 28, 2011 8:23 AM

        I believe this may be referring to the game, happy feet two. Which cost roughly 6000$ to make probably.

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        November 28, 2011 8:25 AM

        yeah is this an old announcement or something? it must have come out before thanksgiving..

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      November 28, 2011 6:44 AM

      Wonder how that title's gonna be abbreviated.

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        November 28, 2011 7:51 AM

        WoOt

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        November 28, 2011 9:46 AM

        Cole Train don't go "Whoo whoo," he goes "WOO."

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        November 28, 2011 9:48 AM

        WOTO

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        November 28, 2011 10:10 AM

        Dudes, abbreviation, not acronym. I was referring to the obvious Whorient.

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      November 28, 2011 7:30 AM

      Oh my god, there are still people out there that let Brendan McNamara make games...? Wow...

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      November 28, 2011 7:44 AM

      hahahahaha

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      November 28, 2011 7:53 AM

      Do you play as an oriental hooker or is that the final boss?

      I'm hoping this is the spiritual successor to Shadow Warrior. "me luv u long time"

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      November 28, 2011 8:19 AM

      Didn't they just lay off 400-600 people at the studio over the weekend? I read that somewhere...

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          November 28, 2011 8:47 AM

          gg shack research team

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          November 28, 2011 9:18 AM

          The art director quoted is exactly right. And from Miller's quote in the Shack article, $17 million for a retail title is going to get "meh" results at the absolute best - that's tight for an XBLA/PSN title.

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        November 29, 2011 3:48 PM

        Having worked on HF2, I can say that for most staff it was contract-based and as per the usual cycle of film development, a lot of contracts were pre-planned for ending dates around November.

        This was something that everyone knew about way before-hand, not some sudden or immediate surprise/sacking. This is the way a lot of studios work - the contract is per-production, and everyone knows the end-date of their own contract (extensions are often offered if the film is running behind), its rare to get a permanent position that continues across projects.

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      November 28, 2011 9:50 AM

      That name is abwhorent.

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      November 28, 2011 1:45 PM

      clearly Whore of the Orient = Brendan McNamara

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