Shadow of the Colossus movie in works

By Oli Welsh Published 8 April, 2009

Legend of Chun-Li writer to script.

The Hollywood Reporter and Variety report that a film of Team ICO's 2005 game Shadow of the Colossus is in development at Sony Pictures.

Producer Kevin Misher is setting it up. The script is to be written by Justin Marks, who wrote the recent and widely panned Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake that's in development at Disney. The Hollywood Reporter describes him as a "go-to young scribe".

Shadow of the Colossus is a beautiful, minimalist boss-rush adventure in which a young man and his sturdy horse must vanquish a series of giant stone colossi by clambering all over them and solving puzzles. It's "not an obvious candidate for a film", said Variety's Ben Fritz, inarguably.

Apparently, the producer and author are intending to flesh out "some of the characters who appear only momentarily in the game", in order to give it some dramatic interest. We're not even sure if we remember any.

According to Fritz, this hasn't stopped Sony Pictures from having sky-high ambitions for the project. "Despite the game's somewhat 'artsy' cred, they're hoping Shadow will be a Lord of the Rings-style fantasy tentpole," he said. Oh dear.

Why not turn back time to our review and remember Shadow of the Colossus the way it was supposed to be remembered?

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (53) Latest comment 3 years ago

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

  • ZuluHero #1 3 years ago

    hmm.. im not sure what i think of games like SotC getting the "hollywood treatment"...

  • youhavenomail #2 3 years ago

    At least no one really cares that those Hollywood morons destroy stuff like Street Fighter and Hitman, but they're crossing a line with this.

  • Restart #3 3 years ago

    Anyone want to go halves on a professional hitman?

  • Widge #4 3 years ago

    SotC comment thread is an interesting read

  • andywilkie35 #5 3 years ago

    Oh christ

  • des #6 3 years ago

    cool

  • Agent_Llama #7 3 years ago

    So, so wrong.

  • monkeylite #8 3 years ago

    Hate the idea, but sounds like this will be a film tie-in with whatever Team ICO is making...

  • henza #9 3 years ago

    I so hope this doesn't get made!

  • Reihn #10 3 years ago

    Oh fuck no. If this does get made, I anticipate spending a long, long time in the angry-dome..

    And Golgo, "Any script or characterization at all will ruin the appeal/aesthetic of Shadow of the Colossus, let alone one provided by this dunce scriptwriter." I agree entirely.

    And just in case Kevin Misher and Justin Marks didn't quite catch my drift, I'll say it plainly: Fuck you. Don't do it.

    Please.

  • jim1975 #11 3 years ago

    i love news that annoys people

  • Erinan #12 3 years ago

    Oh god.

  • CaoSlayer #13 3 years ago

    There is going to be tie-in videogame?

  • Dizzy #14 3 years ago

    Oh dear

  • Golgo #15 3 years ago

    Any script or characterization at all will ruin the appeal/aesthetic of Shadow of the Colossus, let alone one provided by this dunce scriptwriter.

  • wilcoy #16 3 years ago

    Please no...

  • menage #17 3 years ago

    Fuck you Hollywood, really, fuck you.

  • GreyBeard #18 3 years ago

    NO. Just NO.

  • Stompy #19 3 years ago

    Source: Wikipedia
    We are then told of Bison's origins. He is the son of Irish missionaries. He grew up an orphan having to steal fish from people in Thailand. In order to lose his conscience, he forced his daughter out of the womb of his wife prematurely. This transferred his conscience into her, thus Bison no longer had/has a conscience.

    Will THIS be the reason that the hero's horse has no conscience in SotC?
    Did the horse kick a foal out of a mare?

    I can't wait for the flashback scenes!!!

  • dopeonthetable #20 3 years ago

    I don't really see why anyone would be interested in making a SotC film, from a business or artistic perspective. How powerful is the licence exactly? I don't know how many copies the game sold but it's hardly a household name, much less likely to draw in punters than the Street Fighters and Resident Evils of the world. Then from an artistic perspective, to turn this game into a mainstream blockbuster is going to mean changing the plotline so significantly that they may as well not bother with the licence. Surely Sony haven't copyrighted "small guy takes down massive guy". Couldn't they just be 'inspired' by it? Keep it in their private log of influences? Like the Silent Hill team didn't make Jacob's Ladder: The Game, they made Silent Hill. Leave the props and the shout-outs to the special features menu.

    Can anyone explain this to me? I ask sincerely.
    Edited by 1 at 08/04/09 @ 11:03

  • Meho #21 3 years ago

    This really is horrible news and sounds like a late April Fool joke, honestly. I do not wish evil on anyone, but this project has FAIL written all over it in nine foot letters.

    Then again, if it is made into a successful film, we can look forward to a sequel - Ico: Out of the Shadows!!!! Katie Holmes as Yorda!!! Tom Cruise as a horned boy!!!!

    On a slightly more serious note, I actually think a SotC film, animated or live action but made in Japan by someone who can film dramatic and grandiose stuff but also show a lot of artistic restraint and proneness to symbolicism, like, perhaps Takashi Miike or Shinya Tsukamoto could actually work. But this Hollywood thing... never.

  • Evolution #22 3 years ago

    youhavenomail: "they're crossing a line with this."

    Yes, this is line-crossing time. We've laughed at the efforts of Uwe Boll, we've smiled and shrugged with their Max Paynes, their Hitmans, maybe they even got a little bit right with their Silent Hill, but no more. Sotc is a true jewel in the gaming crown, it's not just an enjoyable game, it's a cleverly packaged experience with emotional depth and style.
    They're talking about "fleshing out" a fine example of minimalist story telling, using a writer who seemingly hasn't demonstrated any talent for what he's doing. One of the great things about Shadow is that it is not "fleshed out." You have a very basic premise with unexplained clues scattered everywhere, pointing to a deeper history behind events. How in Gods name do you translate that to the screen? It would certainly require a subtlety not seen in The Legend Of Chun-Li. I can only hope this never gets past the screenwriting stage, because anything coming out of here has "travesty" written all over it. Why don't they just pour fuel over the collected works of the Bard and strike a match, because the end result will at least be somewhat entertaining.

  • DrRobotnik #23 3 years ago

    The game industry should start taking control of its IP and stop handing it out to the first moronic production company that comes along. It's our own fault that the likes of Max Payne and Alone in the Dark get made.

    Really though, someone please explain the logic behind allowing Uwe Boll to make multiple movies based on decent game IP, and preventing Peter Jackson from producing a Halo movie.

    The worst Director since... ever, Vs one of the biggest gaming franchises in recent memory and the director behind the most critically successful movie trilogy of all-time.

    Really Hollywood - how do you fuck that up?

  • lemonfist #24 3 years ago

    Bastards!

  • Reihn #25 3 years ago

    @Ninja-tino: I know, right! I'm as suprised as you are. Maybe because I'm such a stand up guy, my posts now get priorised and jump the queue... ?

    If this post appears before yours, we'll know for sure..

    Edit: Yes!!
    Edited by 2 at 08/04/09 @ 11:50

  • Artemis_Matsas #26 3 years ago

    /holds one hand in the air

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  • wittynic #27 3 years ago

    this is a hardcore facepalm.

    Fleshing out? Why would you flesh out a game specifically created to be minimalist and create a feeling of loneliness?

    Fucking Hollywood, fucking Sony.

  • lambtron #28 3 years ago

    I will just pretend this never happened.

    It is the only way.

  • septimus #29 3 years ago

    Oh god no. Not him. It is going to be hideous anyway, but he will just fuck it up beyond all recognition.

  • Xeopuppy #30 3 years ago

    This is terribly wrong in so many ways, sony should be shot with shit for letting this happen.

    Beautiful, artistic, amazing game becomes a fucking piece of hollywood shit.

    The gaming world should have it's revenge, turn a good movie into a crap game, oh wait, there was ET...

  • Seto #31 3 years ago

    its really a PS2 installed at the cinema - then they let you all play one boss each - its the only way it will work...

  • Ninja_Tino #32 3 years ago

    This board is magical. People are quoting people from the future. But yeah, the film will be crap. Dodgy CGI will will kill it as well.

  • InsoFox #33 3 years ago

    This just doesn't make much sense... but if they are going to do it I hope that they at least keep the same kind of design sensibilities. And there would be no justice in the world if they don't get the same composer in. I doubt they will, though...

    I just don't see how anyone who properly understands what was great about Shadow of the Colossus could possibly think it's a good idea to turn it into a movie. Therefore I can only conclude the people making the movie don't understand what made the game great.

    But we'll see.

  • Simian #34 3 years ago

    Will the horse be the wise-cracking comedy sidekick?

  • Schiraman #35 3 years ago

    Seems a bizarre thing to try and turn into a film TBH, you'd think Ico would work better really - since at least that has some semblance of a narrative. Well anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed that they get bored and go looking for something else to ruin instead.

  • FogHeart #36 3 years ago

    Fleshing out? Why would you flesh out a game specifically created to be minimalist and create a feeling of loneliness?

    To use a currently fashionable forumese phrase: "This."

    But to expand, it's obvious that someone wanting to make a quick buck ran footage of the collossi battles to a movie exec and said "Won't this spectacle look good on the big screen? I'm think a modern take of the whole Jason of the Argonauts/Valley of the Gwange thing. We've already hired a scriptwriter who has his finger on the pulse of videogame genre/who is desperate to script another film before people realise that whatever it takes to turn games into film, it's not guys like him."

  • Charco #37 3 years ago

    Shadow of the Colossus is a piece of art. Transferring art to another medium is a waste of time as it was made as a game. If the developers wanted to make a movie then Shadow of the Colossus would have been a movie. This is like asking Chris Moyles to write a book about the works of Gaudi.

  • DrRobotnik #38 3 years ago

    "If the developers wanted to make a movie then Shadow of the Colossus would have been a movie."


    Well, they obviously did want to see it as a movie or they wouldn't have sold the rights to a production company...?

  • Reihn #39 3 years ago

    @ DrRobotnik: Well, they obviously did want to see it as a movie or they wouldn't have sold the rights to a production company...?

    Are you just winding us up? I'm pretty confident that Fumito Ueda didn't want this and wouldn't have asked for it.

    Unfortunately, part of creating media (such as a game) for a big company (such as Sony) is that they ultimately own the rights to what you've created. That means that they can do what they like with your art (such as sell it off to a hack movie studio) without clearing it with you.

    Also, I strongly believe in holding the messenger responsible, so Oli . . . . . watch out!

  • Charco #40 3 years ago

    "Well, they obviously did want to see it as a movie or they wouldn't have sold the rights to a production company...?"

    No, they wanted the money. They made a game.

  • dr_faulk #41 3 years ago

    Words cannot express how upset I feel at reading this.

  • VicViper #42 3 years ago

    This is a dark day indeed, A million gamers stand up in indignation then sit down quickly out of breath.

    This won't be good, its almost a given that is going to be awful

  • space_ace #43 3 years ago

    directed by michael bay? :-X

  • VicViper #44 3 years ago

    @space ace

    I can see it now...

    Shadow of Colossal EXPOLISIONS!!1!

    With Shia Le Bouef (?) as the rider and megan fox as pale girl, lots of shots of the actors with next to no shots of the Colossus

  • patchbox360 #45 3 years ago

    please dont destroy the beautiful image in my head of this game.. please no

  • Steroyd #46 3 years ago

    Noooooo! It's real!!! :(

  • Azazel #47 3 years ago

    Ugh God. This has got FAIL written all over it.

    Eddy Murphy for the voice of the horse!

  • Thornhillboy #48 3 years ago

    So, when will they turn they eyes over to Ico?

  • YourMessageHere #49 3 years ago

    Just one more piece of proof: everything you hold sacred, isn't. Someone out there is already re-imagining all the merit and beauty out of it for their own profit.

  • actionfitz #50 3 years ago

    "The script is to be written by Justin Marks, who wrote the recent and widely panned Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li"

    NOOOOOO!!!!!

    ( falls to his knees and raise his hands in the air fro dramatic effect like Willem Dafoe in 'Platoon')
    Edited by 1 at 09/04/09 @ 15:12

  • actionfitz #51 3 years ago

    @Simian
    08-Apr-09 13:03:10

    Will the horse be the wise-cracking comedy sidekick?
    ignore poster

    ----

    voiced by Eddie Murphy no doubt...

  • VMerken #52 3 years ago

    Gee, you'd almost think that in this time of economic crisis, video game developers would use their resources on their core activities such as MAKING THE NEXT GODDAMN TEAM ICO VIDEO GAME EVEN BETTER THAN GODDAMN AWESOME!

  • hoonatic #53 3 years ago

    I think everyone has already said everything I was thinking - so I'll just add my name to the petition.