Comic-Con 2011: Mass Effect movie hopes to prove that videogames can be valid source for film

Although the upcoming Mass Effect movie is in the very early stages of production, Casey Hudson, creator of the series, and Mark Protosevich, screenwriter, were on hand during today’s Legendary Pictures panel to discuss their desire to create a videogame adaptation worth watching.

Jon Jashni, Chief Creative Officer of Legendary Pictures, started the panel by acknowledging the disappointing transition many games have made onto the big screen and stressed that including the creators in the creation of the film would be one of the ways to prevent that.

Protosevich, who previously worked on Thor and I Am Legend, suggested that the seduction of visuals and gameplay tend to make the movie industry believe the best method of translation is to copy it directly to screen without asking necessary questions about whether that game has a good story or solid themes. And, while most games would “fail that litmus test” he stressed that Mass Effect does not. He revealed that currently they’re only focusing on the first game for the movie for now.

Hudson stated that a Mass Effect movie had been in talks since 2006, even before the first game had been released, and that several companies had approached him. However, it was Legendary Pictures’ (Inception, The Dark Knight) track record of releasing movies that are “true to subject matter” and “great” that sparked the partnership.

Jul 22, 2011