God of War goes to Hollywood

By Corey Brotherson Published 28 July, 2005

Movie on way via Universal.

Universal Pictures has bought the rights to create a film adaptation of Sony Computer Entertainment's critically acclaimed PlayStation 2 action-adventure, God of War, according to trade Variety magazine.

The Hollywood trade publication has reported Batman Begins producer, Charles Roven, has been slated to produce the film, along with Alex Gartner of Mosiac Media. There are currently no writers, directors or cast lined up at this early stage.

God of War follows ex-Spartan warrior Kratos in his quest to destroy the titular Greek god of war, Ares, via a mixture of puzzle-solving, mythological creature battles and the bedding of numerous nubile ladies. While topping the US charts after its release in March, Sony's game received a rather more lukewarm reception in the UK, only managing a fifth place debut after its July 7th launch.

The title is the latest in an increasing line of videogames being courted by Hollywood, with a rash of others in the pipeline. Activision's sci-fi horror, Doom, recently saw its first trailer unveiled for the movie, starring ex-WWE wrestler, The Rock. Further down the line is an adaptation of popular Microsoft first-person shooter Halo, with writer Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later) heading the script, although its production has said to be rife with creative control issues. The treatment for Konami's Silent Hill has also began shooting , starring Sean Bean. The writing chores are being handled by Roger Avary, co-writer of Quentin Tarantino's cult classic Pulp Fiction.

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About Corey Brotherson

Read more articles from Corey by visiting the Corey Brotherson archive page.

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Comments (20) Latest comment 7 years ago

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

  • Tweakmonkey #1 7 years ago

    Nooo - make it stop!

  • Darkedge #2 7 years ago

    strangely the doom trailer looks good

  • AHiFi #3 7 years ago

    Hey Dark I was just about to post the same thing so I will.

    Doom trailer looks surprisingly good and having read reviews for God of War it seems like it's a good game. So here's hoping they get people who have played the game to do it as is the way with the Doom movie at the moment. Stan Winston's creatures look amazing in the trailer for Doom and a small clip of an FPS angle :D

  • Freek #4 7 years ago

    I don't see what all the negativity is about. It's not Uwe Boll in some low rent bullshit homemovie production and the game could work as a movie. Sort of a modern version of Conan, hopefully less cheesy and better monsters.

  • jellyhead #5 7 years ago

    I just praise the nearest deity that Uwe Boll is not involved.
    I'm cynical but i hope it's good, i'd like to see some good games based films released.

  • darkphoenix #6 7 years ago

    God of War movie adaptation??
    Anyone who has played through that game knows it is impossible to.

    Maybe with a LOTR budget...

  • captain-future #7 7 years ago

    already showing in home theatres:
    http://www.yoso ykratos.com/index1.htm
    Edited by 1 at 28/07/05 @ 14:14

  • spazmo #8 7 years ago

    /groan
    /yawn
    /sigh
    /meh!
    /etc...

  • Dr_Actually #9 7 years ago

    As long as there are titties that have no bounce physics whatsoever, I'll be happy.

    Oh hang on...

  • prettyboytim #10 7 years ago

    I'm not really surprised that God of War hasn't had the same success over here that it has in America. I've not seen any ads for it at all.

  • Pirotic #11 7 years ago

    Would make a good movie, it's gotta be Vin Diesel for Kratos right?

  • 8bitMofo #12 7 years ago

    Vin Diesel is a fag

  • kgthatsme #13 7 years ago

    Someone make a Metal Gear Solid film.

  • admir #14 7 years ago

    no there will be no MGS movie and i hope they dont fuck up GoW good game my fav

  • SirScratchalot #15 7 years ago

    Wait.... Isnīt fag a particularly confusing piece of british slang?
    Vin Diesel is a.... cigarette?

  • zErOb_cOOl #16 7 years ago

    8bitMofo:

    "Vin Diesel is a fag"

    Lol! But I think comp games being turned into movies is a great thing.

    I class the concept as one of the most important aspects of a movie (as well as the story line of course) as it really sucks you into the "world" of the writer, and helps massively to engross the viewer.

    Computer games, for me, offer an abundace of excellent concepts and ideas, as seen in GOW for example, that really do justify a Hollywood movie, especially when you see some of the crap, boring unoriginal horror/action movies that also come out of Hollywood.

  • Xerx3s #17 7 years ago

    shocker.

  • Nesty #18 7 years ago

    this game is so immersive and epic in itself that it doesnt need a movie adaptation. i cant imagine how this could be a better told story with a film adaptation.

    when will hollywood realise that games are actually narrative devices and not toys. and can they not come up with their own fucking ideas?

    ohh and vin diesiel is already riddick... keep him away from this! although his transgressings of the movie/game borders are miniscule compared to the awful Paul Wank Stain Anderson

    [edit] zerob_cool you couldnt be more wrong imo [/edit]
    Edited by 1 at 29/07/05 @ 11:38

  • zErOb_cOOl #19 7 years ago

    Nesty:
    this game is so immersive and epic in itself that it doesnt need a movie adaptation. i cant imagine how this could be a better told story with a film adaptation.

    when will hollywood realise that games are actually narrative devices and not toys. and can they not come up with their own fucking ideas?


    Thats the real tragedy...Hollywood can't readily come up with its own ideas anymore. Well, it doesn't seem that way anyway (note: amount of film re-makes in last 5 years odd.)

    As long as the great ideas come from somewhere, be it computer games or wherever, its a good thing.

    Not sure how original films of Doom and Halo will be though. I imagine both to be brainless reincarnations of Aliens (or similar.) Hopefully a more in-depth storyline will be dreamed up....but I feel they are only being made into a film due to their popularity (note: Tomb Raider) so I agree with you partly Nesty.

    I feel if a game is to be made into a film though, that it must be derrived from a game with a good concept/ original ideas AND based on a good story ie. GOW.

    Edited by 1 at 29/07/05 @ 11:47

  • zErOb_cOOl #20 7 years ago

    Lavalant, it doesn't matter how "out of date" a machine is (I assume you mean hardware-wise) as long as excellent games still come out for it (which are holding their own graphics wise, so who cares about hardware), and the games are also great.

    In terms of game quality AND graphics, I still think the PS2 is "in date" for need of a better phrase.

    I do think 100 bar for a PS2 these days is a little steep, but for a switch-on-and-go commodity, such as a games console, with games still being released to a great quality (and an obvious high development quality), it still justifies the Ģ100 cost, IMO.