3DR "bewildered" by Max Payne film

By Robert Purchese Published 23 October, 2008

But Scott Miller also "proud", bizarrely.

Scott Miller, producer of the Max Payne videogame, has voiced first his bewilderment at the movie adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg, and then, er, his pride in it.

"There are several fundamental story flaws ... in the film that have me shaking my head in bewilderment," Miller had originally told Edge, echoing venomous reviews from critics.

His confusion surrounded the clumsy recreation of the story, which involves Max Payne seeking revenge on a drug syndicate that murdered his family.

Miller said not only was this motivation buried for half of the film, but other characters were also misrepresented. And he could "go on and on" about his problems with it in general.

So it was surprising to hear him issue an about-turn: "To be clear, I'm proud of this film," he said a bit later, reasoning that in film-land, the amount of people involved often leads to misinterpreted IP.

"Clearly, doing a game-to-film is not easy. And in Max Payne's case, it's a miracle it ever reached the big screen," explained Miller.

"A book could be written on the winding hazard-filled path this project took, through different studios, scripts, and even lawsuits.

"Not to mention Rockstar Games [which], after they bought the IP, made serious attempts, including legal, to try to prevent this movie from being made, and were non-cooperative in providing materials that would help with pre-production," he added.

He was also quite surprised by the USD 18 million the film took during its opening weekend in the US, topping the box office ahead of meaty competition from legendary director Oliver Stone.

"This kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel," said Miller.

Max Payne opens across UK cinemas on 14th November.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Chufty #1 3 years ago

    Honesty, hastily reversed by PR responsibility.

  • Kill_Crazy #2 3 years ago

    "This kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel," said Miller


    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

  • kangarootoo #3 3 years ago

    "If you're stupid enough to sell the IP, you've got no cause to whine when that bites you in the ass"

    Really? Is it unreasonable to expect that the people that license the IP might actually do a good job?

  • jellyhead #4 3 years ago

    They will have only bought the IP to make a ton of money from it, so yes kangarootoo, usually it is unreasonable to expect good work unfortunately. :(

  • DB2k #5 3 years ago

    um if they want to make a ton of money then it's fair enough to expect them to do a good job.

  • wattoo #6 3 years ago

    i dunno. a good license would probably earn more money, but bad licenses are probably more cost efficient. that's why there's so many of them.

    perhaps i'm being idealistic, but with so many companies involved in the industry, if it was good business to do good licenses, there'd be more of them. not ALL companies can incompetent, can they?

  • hiddenranbir #7 3 years ago

    So if Rockstar were actually supportive to their IP, things might have not gone so iffy.

  • Talha #8 3 years ago

    "This kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel," said Miller

    My oh my. Look at the reviews and shake your head in bewilderment and then pride. I guess he will be 'nauseated, disgusted, appalled" by the sequel and also "ecstatic" about it!

  • gaselite #9 3 years ago

    ""This kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel," said Miller."

    I hope he means for the game.

  • kangarootoo #10 3 years ago

    @jellyhead

    You seem to suggest that making a ton of money practically requires that the end result be of poor quality?

    I know we gamers perpetuate this myth that there are only two states of product;

    a) high quality that nobody buys because customers are idiots
    b) low quality that everybody buys because customers are idiots

    but this is indeed a myth, shored up by a sense of superiority that is unfornately a core part of the hardcore gaming community.

    On the whole, good films make more money than bad films when both share the same customer space. FACT.


    P.s. every company that buys an IP does so to make money from it. Why else would any company bother spending money?

  • Meho #11 3 years ago

    But anyway, have we watched the same film? Because I seem to remember that near the opening of the film you do see some flashbacks featuring the murder of Max's family... I mean, I did watch it a full week ago but still...

  • hiddenranbir #12 3 years ago

    I've seen it.

    I admire them for trying, but it was a mishmash with resulted in very little action. The visuals and camera work were really nice, it had the right style, just a mis-balance of substance. It's a shame for The Wahlberg because this really was a role that could have stood out had the movie been allowed it.

  • speedjack #13 3 years ago

    Something tells me that the about turn has something to do with Scott Miller's Radar Group realising that if they bad mouth this one they might have trouble getting funding for their other planned game/movie tie-in's :-

    http://uk .ps3.ign.com/articles/860/86011...
    Edited by 1 at 23/10/08 @ 14:24

  • mcwildcard #14 3 years ago

    "This film is a complicated web of flaws and plotholes..."

    *light goes off in head indicating additional revenue that could be generated by a sequel*

    "To be clear though, I think it's a really great film and everyone should go see it! Definitely."

  • Thunderbolt #15 3 years ago

    Mmmm, I reckon like Hitman which was also enjoyable, this will be best enjoyed as a DVD.

    What I didnt get from the trailer was whether they used the bullet-time effects from the game as they was its main selling point. Although the Matrix has already done bullet-time way better I still enjoy seeing it as its visually stunning.

  • Pulsar_t #16 3 years ago

    Oh yea, so that's why Beverly Hills Chihuahua has been #1 at the box office for a fortnight. At least Max Payne is slightly better than that. But all forms of mainstream art have been degenerating and you can't deny it. Filmmakers don't care anymore what people think haha!

  • Madder-Max #17 3 years ago

    "um if they want to make a ton of money then it's fair enough to expect them to do a good job. "

    Awwwww bless.

    /tickles DB2K under chin