The Hollywood adaptation of Remedy's action series Max Payne is almost upon us, and with that Hollywood has delivered an official theatrical trailer previewing the Mark Wahlberg flick premiering October 17th.

The trailer previews the film's gunplay and story, both of which draw heavily from the PC series, as well as hinting at Max's relationship with female assassin Mona, played by Mila Kunis.

Shacknews editor Chris Faylor expressed relief with the lack of... Read more

Rush Hour and X-Men: The Last Stand director Brett Ratner hopes that, one day, he can make a film based on Guitar Hero.

"I would love to do a Guitar Hero movie, if [owner] Activision would ever let me," the director told MTV. I'm trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise?"

"Not that I would make a bad movie," he added. "It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the Guitar Hero competition. One of these dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts."

Currenly slated to direct the film adaptation of Sony's God of War series, Ratner is no stranger to video games, especially Guitar Hero. His consultancy firm was responsible for Guitar Hero product placement in several music videos, and he claims to have come up with the name for Guitar Hero World Tour, the next entry in the music game series.

"They said, 'come up with a name,'" he boasted. "I did, and it became Guitar Hero World Tour."

A television series based off Traveller's Tales' upcoming action game LEGO Batman is currently in production, beginning with a one-off short about 20 minutes in length.

While Warner Bros.-owned developer Traveller's Tales will have no direct involvement in the show, which is being handled by a separate studio in the United States, the series will utilize the same technology and assets that power the block-busting game.

"I think it's a 20-minute cartoon," game producer Rich Earl told GamesIndustry.biz. "I'm personally quite intrigued to see how it comes out. LEGO, every time they've had a new brand out, they've done some CGI stuff as well, but I think this will be quite different."

Earlier in the year, Traveler's Tales teased that it was planning a LEGO TV show based off its work, which includes LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones.

The LEGO Batman game is slated to hit PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP in September, with the studio presently at work on LEGO renditions of other, unspecified Warner Bros. properties.

Publisher Electronic Arts wants to turn EA Maxis' upcoming life simulator Spore into a feature film and a television show, creator Will Wright has revealed.

"With Spore, we're looking way outside the game space, such as TV, movies, etc," Wright explained to Reuters. "We're basically planting the seeds to spread Spore out to a much wider group of people than would ever play a computer game."

Due out on PC and Mac September 7, Spore tasks players with creating and managing a lifeform from its cellular phase to galactic domination. A less ambitious Nintendo DS version, Spore Creatures, is due out the same day, and a free creature creator is already available for PC and Mac users.

Wright, the creative mind behind EA's widely successful The Sims franchise, stressed that the company will be "much more intelligent about harvesting other market opportunities for Spore than we were with The Sims," noting his belief that "Spore potentially has a wider net to cast [outside of video games] than The Sims did."

Electronic Arts recently partnered with United Talent Agency to help create movies and televion shows based on EA properties, with a live-action The Sims movie and animated MySims television show already in the works.

Though the first stab at a Halo movie didn't go so well, that hasn't stopped some from trying.

Stuart Beattie, the man that wrote the original treatments for the Spy Hunter and Gears of War movies, has apparently penned a script based off the first Halo book, The Fall of Reach.

Taking place before the first Halo game, the Eric Nylund-written novel details Master Chief separation from the other Spartans and what led to the discovery of Halo.

According to LatinoReview, concept artist Kasra Farahani (The Wolf Man, Avatar, Spider-Man 3) has been commissioned to provide illustrations, including the one above, that will be used in an eventual pitch to win the approval of property holder Microsoft. "From what I'm told, the presentation is very cool," wrote reporter El Mayimbe.

id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead expressed interest in producing another feature film adaptation of the developer's Doom shooter series, the developer told Kotaku.

"Personally I'd like to do another Doom movie, I thought working with it was a blast," Hollenshead said. "There are some lessons we learned. The best way to do things better is to get the experience."

Doom was first brought to the big screen by director Andrzej Bartkowiak and Universal Pictures in 2005. The film, which starred Karl Urban and wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, was released to mostly negative reviews and fan backlash following significant changes to the core mythology of the hell-spawn shooter series.

"We'll see what happens when we get further along in development of [Doom 4] and there's more buzz and we share more about what the game will be about," Hollenshead added,

The CEO further noted that the decision would fall to Doom distributor Universal, which owns the rights to the movie and any possible sequels. "As the buzz meter starts to go up that may kind of kick start the guys over at Universal."

The release date for the Disney-produced live-action feature film adaptation of Prince of Persia has been pushed back until 2010, ComingSoon.net reports.

The movie is currently slated to hit theaters on May 28, 2010, just in time for Memorial Day. Other cinematic releases around that time include Dreamwork's Shrek Goes Fourth and Marvel's Thor.

According to the site, Prince of Persia's previous June 19, 2009 release date would have placed it in close proximity to the next Michael Bay-directed Transformers sequel, Revenge of the Fallen.

Loosely based on the 2003 Prince of Persia game The Sands of Time, the Jake Gyllenhaal and Alfred Molina-starring film was written by series creator Jordan Mechner, with Mike Newell (Pushing Tin, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) directing and Jerry Bruckheimer serving as producer.

Thanks to K1Bond007 for the heads up.

Director Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand, Rush Hour series) has been named as the director for the film adaptation of Sony's deity-slaying action series God of War.

The tidbit was tucked away in a press release for the next RoboCop film, to be directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by David Self. Under Self's name, MGM noted that he "wrote 'God of War' for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct."

Rumors had previously circulated of Ratner's involvement with the God of War film. Self's past writing work include the Road to Perdition screenplay and Thirteen Days.

Little is known about the project, which is believed to follow game series protagonist Kratos as he seeks revenge against the Greek deities that betrayed his trust.

Thus far, three God of War games--two numbered entries on the PS2 and a PSP prequel--have been released, with Sony recently revealing the first media from God of War 3, which will eventually arrive on PlayStation 3.

The feature film adaptation of Epic's cover-heavy action series Gears of War has gained the financial support of Legendary Pictures, Variety has revealed.

Legendary will now co-finance and co-produce the project alongside New Line Cinema, which secured the rights for the adaptation in 2007. It marks the latest game-related project for Legendary, which is also involved with Blizzard's Warcraft and Diablo flicks.

Helmed by Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman, the movie is now using a script drafted by Chris Morgan, instead of Stuart Beattle's original version. Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski is serving as both executive producer and consultant.

The Gears of War movie has no concrete release date, though producer Wyck Godfrey expects it to arrive in the summer 2010. The next entry in the game series, Gears of War 2, hits Xbox 360 on November 7, complete with a five-person online co-op mode.

20th Century Fox's film adaptation of the Max Payne video games made a big showing on the first day of the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con. Along with the release of two freshly printed one-sheet posters (above), actor Mark Wahlberg took to the stage for an open panel with co-star Mila Kunis and director John Moore.

An extended version of the recently released trailer was then shown to fans, as well as several clips from the film.

Garth Franklin at Dark Horizons broke down the series of events:

Director John Moore says that the video game adaptation uses a lot of subjective viewpoints with the camera to make the audience feel like they are Max Payne, thus they "kick the s**t out of the camera" throughout. The film uses a hard drive camera system called Phantom which can shoot up to 1000 frames per second, allowing for super slow motion shots.... Read more

Saw creators James Wan and Leigh Whannell, Dawn of the Dead remake writer Janes Gunn and Friday the 13th remake director Marcus Nispel are among the talent behind seven original Xbox Live Video Marketplace short films due out this fall.

Created exclusively for the Xbox 360's online Video Marketplace, the seven comedies will be a free download "to all members around the world," according to Microsoft. Official descriptions of the programs, as provided by Microsoft, follow:

• "Doggie Heaven (Woof!)"
  The creative team behind the smash hit "Saw" films, James Wan ("Saw," "Death Sentence") and Leigh Whannell, tell the story of a young man who is having a dog of a day. He's just been shot dead, but his real problems are only just beginning because of a clerical error that has sent him to the wrong heaven.
  
  
• "The Miracle of Phil"
  From director Andrew Douglas ("The Amityville Horror"), "The Miracle of Phil" shows that the best relationships are full of screaming, shouting and cursing, but when Phil gets knocked up, Chris is the one who feels screwed.
  
  
• "Humanzee!"
  James Gunn ("Slither," "Dawn of the Dead") directs and stars in a sitcom about his human-chimp hybrid son, the Humanzee (played by Gunn's brother, Sean Gunn, from "Gilmore Girls"). It's a delightful mix of "South Park," "Wonder Showzen" and "Small Wonder."... Read more

Electronic Arts today announced that it has inked a deal with with United Talent Agency, described as a "leading Hollywood talent and literary agency," to help create movies and television shows based on EA properties.

The studio listed Army of Two, Need for Speed, Dead Space and Mirror's Edge in the announcement as examples of its popular efforts--suggesting these properties are likely candidates for transition to film or television.

Left, Mirror's Edge. Right, Dead Space.

One of the biggest video game publishers in the industry, EA's many properties encompass a variety of genres, including its sports titles, the mythology-rich Command & Conquer strategy series, Skate, and the evolution-simulator Spore.

EA films and shows already in the works include a live-action movie based on The Sims franchise, an animated television show inspired by the MySims games, a direct-to-DVD animated Dead Space prequel, and another unspecified animated effort.

"We view EA as an emerging entertainment force, not just because they are a great untapped IP rights holder, but because at their core they care most about how viewers respond to their stories and creative vision," noted UTA partner Richard Klubeck.

Confirming a report from last week, Variety reports that Warner Brothers and Capcom are teaming up for a movie based on the sci-fi action game Lost Planet.

The screenplay will be penned by David Hayter, known in the game industry as the English language voice of Solid Snake, and in Hollywood for the X-Men 1 & 2 and Watchmen screenplays.

Producers Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul are quite familiar with fantasy properties - they produced several Marvel comic book movies before the comic book giant set up its own production firm, and their Seaside Entertainment company is also adapting Ghost in the Shell into a live action movie.

As with the upcoming Street Fighter movie, Capcom is expected to contribute to the financing of the Lost Planet movie.

The first teaser for the Mark Wahlberg-starring Max Payne movie was released early this morning. The film is currently slated to debut on October 17.

John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix, The Omen) is directing the film, with a script penned by Beau Thorne, a first-time screenwriter.

Rounding out the cast is Beau Bridge as Payne's mentor B.B. Hensley, and Mila Kunis as the female assassin Mona.

The adaptation of the M-rated Max Payne series has been described as suitably dark by those involved in the project, though the film is apparently shooting for a PG-13 rating.

"The movie is PG-13," said cast member Kunis in a recent interview with ReelzChannel. "It's incredibly dark. You still get the gist of it. The only different between R-rated and PG-13 is you might not see as much blood."

Video game publisher Ubisoft today announced its acquisition of Hybride Technologies, the studio behind the stylish visual effects of the 300 and Sin City films.

Under Ubisoft, Hybride will continue its work with film while "bringing its expertise to leverage Ubisoft's intellectual properties for the movie industry." The two will also work together in developing tools for video game and visual effects production, with a goal of cinema-quality game visuals.

Video game properties held by Ubisoft include the medieval murder simulator Assassin's Creed, the military-themed Tom Clancy brand, the Far Cry open-world shooting franchise, and the story-driven Beyond Good & Evil adventure games along with the Rayman platforming series and its mini-game-driven Raving Rabbids offshoot.

Last year, Ubisoft opened a studio dedicated to the production of... Read more

Contrary to previous reports that US game sales had surpassed those of DVD movies in 2007, the Entertainment Merchants Association revealed that DVDs still hold a substantial lead over game software.

According to Kotaku, the EMA said that the data from sales tracking firm NPD showing $18.85 billion in game sales includes software, hardware, and game accessories, while DVD sales—raking in $16 billion in 2007—accounts only for DVDs.

The software portion of the $18.85 billion in total game sales amounts to roughly $8.64 billion, marking a still significant lead for DVD sales over video games.

The data does not account for game rentals, used game sales or the revenue generated by online gaming subscriptions. The NPD recently announced its intentions to track online subscription sales, discovering some $1 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2008 alone.

Sales of video games in the United States surpassed those of DVD movies during 2007, the Entertainment Merchants Association and GameSpot report.

Across 2007, the US gaming market brought in $18.85 billion according to NPD. Meanwhile, Nielsen reports that DVD sales racked up $16 billion, and the Digital Entertainment Group shows Hollywood's 2007 box office revenue at $9.6 billion.

However, as we noted last August, the claim that video games pull in more money than Hollywood is only true from a certain point of view. While games surpassed both DVD sales and box office revenue, combined, those figures appear to overshadow gaming.

Then again, those numbers don't paint a complete picture of the rivalry between Tinsel Town and games. NPD's 2007 figure for the gaming industry doesn't... Read more

Sources at several major movie studios revealed that Sony Computer Entertainment has not yet solidified agreements to bring films to its recently announced PlayStation 3 video download service, according to Variety.

Sony Pictures is presently the only studio believed to be confirmed for the new service. The company is currently in talks with several others to bring more films to the store, slated to hit the PS3's PlayStation Store sometime this summer.

The report goes on to note that the company plans to offer more in its service than what's currently available on the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store and other digital distributors, which may include the ability to transfer downloads from the PS3 to Sony's PSP handheld.

At its launch in 2006, the Xbox Live Marketplace Video Store included content from just two major movie studios, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. The service has since gained the support of MGM, Walt Disney Pictures and Lionsgate Films.

A film based on the open-world criminal antics of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series is likely to never happen due to a 1977 movie of the same name, according to LA Weekly film columnist Nikki Finke.

That movie, which was directed by and starred Ron Howard (left), is said to be the source of a legal settlement in which Rockstar supposedly agreed to never make a Grand Theft Auto film as long as Fox never makes a video game based on Howard's work.

Left, Howard's Grand Theft Auto film. Right, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.

In other words, Finke claims that Rockstar has the rights to the Grand Theft Auto game series, while Fox holds the rights for the entirely unrelated, but identically... Read more

The upcoming feature film adaptation of Epic Games' shooter Gears of War (PC, 360) will be directed by Len Wiseman, according to Variety.

A relative newcomer to filmmaking, Wiseman's directorial portfolio includes Live Free or Die Hard, as well as the 2003 vampire flick Underworld and its 2006 sequel, Underworld Evolution. Producer Wyck Godfrey recently stated that the film is expected to release in 2010.

Wiseman will work to develop a new draft of the film's screenplay with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift screenwriter Chris Morgan. The original draft was penned by Stuart Beattie, aided by Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski.

Released for the Xbox 360 in November 2006, Gears of War is one the most successful console-exclusive titles on the system. A sequel to the game laden with a variety of new features will hit the Xbox 360 this fall.