One flick I’ve really been looking forward to is the long-awaited adaptation of popular X-Box 360 game GEARS OF WAR. Why am I so stoked about this when history has shown us video game adaptations usually don’t work? Well GEARS OF WAR is a solid game with a great story to it that would translate to film perfectly in my opinion. HALO eat your heart out.
Unfortunately we haven’t heard jack about this adaptation since December and it seems like the thing has officially come to a halt. Or at least pretty close to it! According to the LA Times New Line have decided to cut back on the budget for GEARS OF WAR, throwing the $100 million+ ‘sprawling epic’ penned by Chris Morgan and Billy Ray (and a potential trilogy) right out the window in favor of a ‘more simple, straight-ahead invasion story that will cost a good chunk less than [$100 million].’ Aw sh*t there goes that.
GEARS OF WAR has now officially fallen into the I-could-care-less category. Seriously? Openly admitting you’re trashing a ‘sprawling epic’ for a ‘more simple invansion story?’ How is that going to attract fans!? Hell it’s completely made this guy lose interest. Congratulations New Line. Along with Morgan and Ray’s script, it seems it’s safe to say Len Wiseman (and therefore Kate Beckinsale) won’t have anything to do with the project either. Mind you Wiseman is still signed on, but by the time New Line puts together a new script that may not be the case anymore.
So what will Wiseman be tackling next? The apocalyptic thriller NOCTURNE, which we told you about back in November. That’s right folks, Wiseman has officially signed on as director! NOCTURNE, which may soon undergo a title change, was originally penned by Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore but now rests in the hands of scribes Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who together penned IRON MAN and CHILDREN OF MEN. Not too shabby. NOCTURNE will follow a band of people who survive the end of the world and the cryptic dealings of how they got to such a point.
So there you have it. Damn… I’d rather have Wiseman’s epic GEARS OF WAR over this NOCTURNE thing anyday! What about you guys? This news upsetting anyone else? Who in their right mind would actually be for a ‘more simple invansion story’ for GEARS? That just isn’t feasible. Hopefully we get some more solid details on all this soon. In the meantime be sure to keep it here for all your Len Wiseman updates as we hear them!
Wiseman had previously expressed his interest in wife Kate Beckinsale for a part in GEARS OF WAR
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