Hollywood Cut Down Ninja Theory's Movie Dreams

[vansau]

Hollywood Cut Down Ninja Theory's Movie Dreams

Ninja Theory totally wanted to make a CGI movie using the Unreal Engine, but this didn't happen because it made Hollywood studios nervous.

Ninja Theory is known for making cinematic games, utilizing lots of motion capture and employing some big-name talent in their creation. However, the group recently revealed that it tried to take things a step further and actually create a proper movie using game technology; unfortunately, no Hollywood studio was interested in the project.

Back in 2008, Ninja Theory co-founder Nina Kristensen revealed that her company might release a movie to accompany its new project (which turned out to be <a href-http://www.amazon.com/Enslaved-Odyssey-West-Xbox-360/dp/B00319DX4W/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285361900&sr=8-2>Enslaved:Odyssey to the West). The idea was to create a feature-length film that used real-time graphics rendered by Unreal Engine 3.

However, when Ninja Theory pitched the project, it couldn't find any movie studio willing to back it. According to Tameem Antoniades, "We were serious about it. We went to all the big studios in Hollywood and pitched the idea. They don't want to do it for cheap. They want Pixar and the other higher end [studios] to do it for 100 million dollars or 60 million dollars. To do it any other way is considered a huge risk, so it just didn't wash."

Hollywood being afraid of a project like this isn't exactly surprising. I can't see mainstream movie audiences flocking to theaters for something that doesn't have the same polish as a Pixar film. However, Ninja Theory might want to consider making a TV movie, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102586-Red-Dead-Redemption-TV-Movie-Saunters-to-XBLA-PSN>much like Rockstar and Fox aired back in May, seeing as how successful that turned out to be.

Source: Joystiq

Permalink

 

[Arachon]

Ninja Theory or Team Ninja? They're two different devs, aren't they?

 

[Thunderhorse31]

This just in: Uwe Boll to make a sequel to "In the Name of the King," complete with $100-million budget.

Hollywood is upside-down and silly sometimes.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

this is why i hate hollywood. They rarely take chances with anything.

 

[vansau]

Ninja Theory or Team Ninja? They're two different devs, aren't they?

Ninja Theory. Sorry about that, I thought I saved the correction before this went live, but I guess it didn't save.

 

[airwolfe591]

I'd watch it. I'm definitely looking forward to Enslaved, can't wait to play the full game.

 

[duchaked]

initially I thought "Team Ninja? well of course Hollywood would be worried, what with how movie audiences would react to jiggle physics" but oh wait nvm lol

 

[Unrulyhandbag]

How much did they pitch their film as costing? there's going to be a threshold level for Hollywood studios surely? Make it cheap enough its worth a shot, tread the middle ground the risk increases and the lower quality may be an issue.

TV film sounds a good idea. Or possibly find funding themselves and publish through specialist distribution like an online pay per view service or xbxlive PSN or steam. Of course it's different when the risk is personal.

 

[Jesus Phish]

A TV or direct to dvd movie would be cool.

Didnt the direct to dvd resident evil movie do rather well moneywise as well as critic/fan wise?

 

[Casual Shinji]

A big screen movie made with Enslaved's ingame graphics?!

Thank God that idea was shot down.

 

[Mr. Omega]

This could have been the next Avatar. Not a particularly good movie, but introduces a new form of technology to movie-making everywhere. Who knows? It might have even been a good movie.

 

[Jumplion]

Enslaved looks like an interesting game, and I might pick it up when it comes out.

this is why i hate hollywood. They rarely take chances with anything.

Which is sadly justified, considering that a lot of the times the (really good) risks flop [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/]...

 

[Cid Silverwing]

this is why i hate hollywood. They rarely take chances with anything.

I'd rather they didn't considering how 90% of the movie industry is suffering the moneymilker virus.

 

[TheDoctor455]

Hmm... if there were to be a full length film in theatres that had been done entirely in a single game engine, then I think the Dragon Age: Origins engine would be the way to go, after looking at some of the better machinima that has been made out of it... I have to say that it is quite possibly one of the most flexible animation engines I've ever seen.

 

[Dracosage]

This just in: Uwe Boll to make a sequel to "In the Name of the King," complete with $100-million budget.

Hollywood is upside-down and silly sometimes.

Uwe Boll gets hardly any funding for most of his movies and it definitely doesn't come from Hollywood :/

Also it's possible they didn't accept the idea because everything about the movie other than visuals was terrible.

 

[2up]

A big screen movie made with Enslaved's ingame graphics?!

Thank God that idea was shot down.

I'm siding with Hollywood on this one. Unreal Engine 3's lighting model is still awful compared to other engines, and practically every Unreal game I play has framerate issues, screen tears, unrealistic physics, and ugly vfx. As a game engine it is already showing its age. I believe Bioshock Infinite is using the latest Unreal Engine 3. Do you think casual movie goers would pay to see Bioshock Infinite realtime cutscenes in theaters? Probably not. A pre-rendered big screen movie from Blur or Blizzard would be a better bet.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

Hangonhangonhangon... doing it for uber-cheap is a HUGE RISK?

EPIC LOGIC FAIL!

But eh, what do you expect from Hollywood?

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

this is why i hate hollywood. They rarely take chances with anything.

And that is why we get the wonderful and glorious privilege of having every movie from under the pre-millenium's sun being re-made! Woo-hoo!!!

If they could do it on the cheap and make a profit, who knows what could happen? From a money standpoint, I suppose it makes some sense to want a bigger studio for about any movie with a even glimmer of potential. If they can make double the investment, one million gets trumped by sixty million, and so on and so forth. But then that leads to the question as to whether or not that larger investment will pay off and the movie will be a success? The same math applies: if that movie tanks, perhaps it would have been better to only lose the five hundred thousand.

Then of course comes the practically obligatory fear that this could be give Bobby Kotick even more ideas for game-movies. I think it can easily be agreed upon that a Call of Duty movie would be reaching towards a new low.

I will add on a personal note that after googling the game and finding the wiki, I don't know if I could handle a movie where the protagonist's name is "Monkey."