Ubisoft Launches a Movie Studio

[Andy Chalk]

Ubisoft Launches a Movie Studio

Ubisoft [http://www.ubi.com] is launching a brand-new division called Ubisoft Motion Pictures, dedicated to adapting its game properties to film and television.

Making a decent feature film out of a videogame franchise is a tricky proposition. Some have met with a certain degree of success - I'm thinking the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time [http://www.amazon.com/Lara-Croft-Raider-Special-Collectors/dp/B00003CXZ1/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1304382239&sr=1-1], which pulled in an estimated $335 million worldwide.

Despite the difficulties, Ubisoft sees big things ahead and its jumping in with both feet. The new Ubisoft Motion Pictures division is headed by Jean-Julien Baronnet, which we wouldn't care in the least about except for the fact that he's the former CEO of EuropaCorp, the movie studio co-founded by French action savant Luc Besson [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000108/], which I think gives him a certain cachet in the business.

UbiMovie hasn't done anything yet but it does have an impressive variety of properties at its disposal that should translate nicely to the big screen, including the obviously sequelizable Prince of Persia franchise, Tom Clancy franchises [http://www.amazon.com/Assassins-Creed-Brotherhood-Playstation-3/dp/B003L8DXOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304382312&sr=8-1]. That's no guarantee of success, but it's not a bad place to start.

Source: Variety [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118036232?categoryid=4076&cs=1&cmpid=RSS|News|FilmNews]


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[Krion_Vark]

Can I just say that I like this a lot. Hopefully will be successful I am rooting for these guys.

 

[cardinalwiggles]

this makes me very happy with the sources at there disposable and an understanding of the videogames market means that rich game adaptions are in the pipeline i for one am excited.
come on ubisoft montreal! show them how it's done! here here assassin's creed MOVIE HO!

 

[Vault101]

well it makes sense that it would be handled by people that...."get" video games

then again thease days I dont really see thr point of movie adaptations of games

 

[FogHornG36]

HERE COMES GHOST RECON THE MOVIE!

wonder if the movies are going to have DRM?

 

[Krion_Vark]

wonder if the movies are going to have DRM?

Sure you have just made my day.

Perhaps the movies will freeze or have you have to scan your ticket into the barcode reader they will have installed into the cupholders so that no one can use it without paying.

 

[Sacman]

No, wait until Deus Ex is out before you destroy yourself...

 

[JET1971]

How are they going to do the DRM? they are famous for it and i had to pirate a purchased title just to play. serious question!

 

[Super Toast]

Make a Call of Juarez film, Ubisoft. Do it now.

 

[Cpu46]

So a game company making movies based on games instead of a movie company making movies about what they think the games are based on.

 

[Awexsome]

Call me optimistic. An adaptation of Assassin's Creed could really do well. I mean those chase scenes could pretty much translate right into a movie.

 

[WorldCritic]

Heard about this from Achievement Hunter too. I'm crossing my fingers because I actually do want this to work.

 

[AvsJoe]

So a game company making movies based on games instead of a movie company making movies about what they think the games are based on.

...Yeah, actually. I'm cautiously optimistic here. Especially if they get Luc Besson to help out in the actual moviemaking process in some way, not just as an executive producer.

 

[Atmos Duality]

It's bound to be better than letting Uwe Boll do it.

 

[-Drifter-]

Make a Call of Juarez film, Ubisoft. Do it now.

I'm not Commander Sheppard, but this is my favourite comment on the thread.

 

[dmase]

If they fuck up Assassin's creed the rage... it will topple buildings and cause earthquakes the world over.

 

[The Random One]

I don't care about this all that much, but at the very least they will have video game movies made by people who actually care about the games (or at the very little least, run by people who care about the games because it's their job).

 

[(LK)]

Worth noting is that viewers watching the studio's movies will be forcefully thrown out the nearest exit door if there is any interruption in local internet access.