Zombieland Screenwriters Hired for Watch Dogs Film

[MarlaDesat]

Zombieland Screenwriters Hired for Watch Dogs Film

The Watch Dogs film will follow Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell adaptations.

Ubisoft and New Regency announced April 24 that screenwriters Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese are on board to write the script for a Watch Dogs film adaptation. Ubisoft announced it was planning to adapt Watch Dogs, Far Cry, and Rabbids into feature films Deadpool movie [http://variety.com/2013/film/news/ubisoft-to-make-movies-based-on-watch-dogs-far-cry-rabbids-exclusive-1200496209/].

The Watch Dogs adaptation will be part of Ubisoft's second volley of video game films. The Assassin's Creed movie, starring Michael Fassbender, is set to writer Sheldon Turner [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129631-Assassins-Creed-Movie-Release-Date-Moved-to-August-2015] has signed on to write a new draft of the Splinter Cell script, and filming is expected to begin in August.

While Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell are proven franchises, Ubisoft is gambling that Watch Dogs will be a big enough hit to support the film. Despite the delays that kept it out of the holiday release season, Watch Dogs continues to be a highly anticipated release. Check out Andrea Rene's preview [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/previews/11342-Why-You-Should-Still-Be-Pumped-For-Watch-Dogs] to see the game's single player, multiplayer, and ctOS mobile game modes. Watch Dogs releases on Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC on May 27.

Source: Deadline [http://www.deadline.com/2014/04/zombieland-scribes-wernick-reese-to-script-ubisofts-watch-dogs-for-sony-new-regency/]


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[ArkhamJester]

Game isn't out and there already making a movie deal, what happens if the game bombs? Sure there is probably enough pre-orders from when this used to be a launch gaem witht the Xbox one and PS4 that it won't completely fail, but what if it comes out, the public hates it, and than the sequel, which Ubisoft has already confirmed, fails. This feels a bit arrogant on their part, as they won't know if the franchise is truly successful auntil after they y'know, release the game.

 

[OZAuCkn7J28sHLCv]

Oh for...

"Videogames"

 

[Imre Csete]

None of the "high profile" videogame movie adaptations announced in the past 5 years seen the light of day yet (like WoW, Halo, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, etc.), and they are planning a Watch Dogs movie? Oh silly entertainment industry, you are so endearingly stupid, I can't be mad at you.

 

[DaxStrife]

Props for confidence in your work, but why can't they just wait and make sure it doesn't suck first?
I had this issue last year at a gaming convention: they were selling artwork and T-shirts for Bioshock Infinite and the game wasn't going to be out for another two months. Of course it didn't suck, but still the point is valid: can't they just wait a couple months to make sure people like this before they invest time/money in it? If the game is a hit then sure, they're a little bit ahead on the production, but if it bombs they're going to have to scrap some work.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I read the title as "Zombieland Screenwriters Hired to watch Dogs Film". Ah well...

 

[Drops a Sweet Katana]

Err, I'm no expert on these sorts of things, but isn't planning a film adaptation before the game is even out a bit of a daft move. What if the game doesn't produce a large following in the long run? Wouldn't that make the whole effort for naught? At least the other proposed adaptations were of proven names with long established fanbases.

 

[Azure Knight-Zeo]

Hearing all the news about Ubisoft whoring out Watch Dogs before it's even released for some reason makes me want the game less. I don't know why, maybe because what happens in the game will be ultimately pointless since there's already at least one sequel confirmed, or maybe it's that Ubisoft's arrogantly treating it like it's a big industry changer despite no one playing the full game yet.

If this was just a live-action short to get people hyped for it I could understand, but a full motion picture for a game that hasn't been released? Why?

 

[Pebkio]

Am I missing something? Is there a reason that they're going straight to thinking about making a movie? Is Watch Dogs actually some popular comic book concept? Jumping the gun on potential popularity, aren't they?

Maybe this is more auteur then we thought...

 

[antigodoflife]

Game isn't out and there already making a movie deal, what happens if the game bombs? Sure there is probably enough pre-orders from when this used to be a launch gaem witht the Xbox one and PS4 that it won't completely fail, but what if it comes out, the public hates it, and than the sequel, which Ubisoft has already confirmed, fails. This feels a bit arrogant on their part, as they won't know if the franchise is truly successful auntil after they y'know, release the game.

It's because Ubisoft have a movie studio now and are turning all their games into movies. So far announced have been Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Far Cry, Rabbids and now Watch_Dogs. I thought they were going to do a Prince of Persia remake but Disney owns the rights to that.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Rabbids movie is a garunteed cringeworthy experience...i'm calling that right now.

 

[Absolutionis]

Didn't Defiance try something similar by putting an MMO video game tied closely with a TV show? Both have faded into decent obscurity.

I can't Ubisoft releasing DRM-Quest which has already hit some controversy to fare much better.

Then again, Titanfall has showed that even unproven games by controversial publishers can sell through sheer ham-fisted marketing. Ubisoft may need to step up its game if it wishes to follow suit, and rumors of a tie-in movie may be just the marketing they need for this game to stay in the news.

 

[Avalanche91]

Can the audience at least give their honest opinion on whether or not this hype is worth it?

I tend to get very skeptical if a game gets marketed up the wazoo like this.

 

[Ubiquitous Duck]

So the selling points of this film are:

Based on a game that doesn't currently exist and is receiving a public kickback on untrue promises during buildup

&

They have the screenwriters from a very basic and mediocre 'comedy' film.

...OK.

 

[Micalas]

I'm getting really tired of publishers commanding the viewing public to see these products as hits before they're even released. Saying you think you did good work on the game is one thing, but premptively receviing a GOTY and 10/10s "because I said so" is monumetally stupid. Publishers and developers don't get to rate the quality of the game. The players do. Until we tell you it's good or not, fuck off.