The path to bringing your favorite techno-thriller-style stealth video game Metal Gear Solid to the big screen was long and winding. CinemaBlend reported in 2012 that a Metal Gear movie was in development at Columbia Pictures.
However, a decade later, the project over and over again doesn’t seem to be much closer to becoming a reality. The director of “Kong: Skull Island” Jordan Vogt-Roberts was hired to direct the project in 2014, but over the past eight years there have been very few details other than that. The actor of “Moon Knight” Oscar Isaac expressed a desire to play Solid Snake in the film adaptation. The director of the film was also keen on this idea, because soon after Isaac announced his wishes, the star was officially chosen. So what’s the state of the movie now?
The “Dune” star recently spoke with ComicBook.com about his upcoming graphic novel Head Wounds: Sparrow, but soon the conversation turned to the constantly developing Metal Gear project, where the actor gave a small update. Although Isaac doesn’t give us much information to get started, he repeats the importance of getting the script and their “right” approach to the material. The actor also expressed the desire of the team to bring Solid Snake to the big screen so that the fans would be delighted. The actor said:
“We want this to happen. Be excited. What’s the scenario? What’s the story? What is the idea? […] But we hope that it will happen, because there is a lot of potential for this. This is an incredible game. It’s my favorite. ”
While this is a somewhat vague statement, the Ex Machina star seems to confirm that the project is still in development and also acknowledges the level of thoroughness required to properly adapt the game. If the last few years of adaptations have taught us anything, it’s that the biggest strength and weakness of video game adaptations may be their devoted fans.
Traps to avoid in Metal Gear Solid Adaptation.
Movies and TV shows based on the properties of video games are becoming more and more commonplace. You don’t need to look beyond our list of upcoming movie releases or our TV schedule for 2022 to see how many adaptations have been released this year alone, and more are just around the corner. Long gone are the days when fans accepted half-baked interpretations or random remixes of the iconography of their favorite games (I’m looking at you, Netflix’s Resident Evil series). Fans often have no problem expressing their opinion when they believe that the adaptation did not hit the target. For example, pay attention to the initial design of the first cinematic release of Sonic The Hedgehog.
When the Sonic The Hedgehog trailer came out, fans were greeted with a real blue nightmare fuel. The original character design of the beloved Erinaceidae was, to put it mildly, creepy, and fans were in no hurry to go to social networks to share their outrage. Fortunately or unfortunately, the director of the film and the studio listened, paused after the release of the film and reworked the character, which paid off for the studio. Sonic was now more in line with what fans loved and recognized. Thanks to the redesign, the Sonic movie became a hit, accepted by his fans, who felt heard and felt involved in the character and the film.
For Metal Gear Solid to be successful, it must take a page from the Sonic The Hedgehog game collection, adopting what fans have come to love about the series. The filmmakers, of course, should try to reproduce the non-thriller look of the games, but, more importantly, they should use the cinematic narrative already present in the series.
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has said in previous interviews that his take on Metal Gear will be a remix, not an adaptation of a single game or storyline. This direction, in my opinion, is wrong. Anyone who has played Metal Gear games knows that part of the fun of the game lies in hours of intense plot and cut scenes, which are often as rich in detail and depth as any movie.
Hopefully, the filmmakers will consider choosing one of the eleven games in the series and make an accurate adaptation of its story. If it is a success with the public, there will be a lot of time and history for sequels, which will make the remix unnecessary.
