District 9 director Neill Blomkamp has signed on as chief visionary officer of Gunzilla Games, lending his talents to work on an unannounced AAA multiplayer shooter.
In an interview with IGN, Blomkamp explained his new role: "It comes from a place of bringing directorial skills that would be along the lines of the films that I've done before to the aesthetic of the game."
Blomkamp has previously dabbled in the world of video games when he directed a live-action short film based on Anthem called Conviction, as well as being attached to a Halo film adaptation that never got to see the light of day.
"The difference [from directing a film] is not acting like a single point that guides the creative team," Blomkamp added. "It's making sure that you're integrated into the team in a real way."
The flood gates are finally open: @NeillBlomkamp, the Oscar-nominated director of District 9, Elysium and Chappie, joins Gunzilla Games as the Chief Visionary Officer. Find out more in the @IGN article: https://t.co/b6v2ltoEx3July 20, 2021
When asked if his new role at Gunzilla is similar to that of George R.R.Martin and FromSoftware's highly-anticipated Elden Ring, Blomkamp said that's "thinking in the right way" but was reluctant to go into any detail about the upcoming project. However, it sounds like he made it clear that it has no obvious connection to any of his movie work.
As for why he is making the sidestep into games, Blomkamp responded: "I don't have experience as a game designer, but I have other expertise that I think can potentially make the game interesting.” Before explaining that "games will [...] become what films were in the 20th century. They'll just be the thing that is the dominant form of cultural entertainment and [I want] to be in that.”
Gunzilla will be joined by Blomkamp on a long-term basis - providing the game they’re working on together is a success - but the studio hasn’t revealed very much about its mysterious debut title yet. According to the same IGN article though, the company is working on a AAA multiplayer shooter, which Gunzilla Games' website states we can expect to hear more information about soon.
This won’t be the only project Blomkamp is working on however, as earlier this year the director confirmed that he was also working on a District 9 sequel, as well as an upcoming supernatural sci-fi horror film called Demonic.
To see more examples of the video game and movie world colliding, take a look at our upcoming video game movies list.
