Bethesda open to Fallout 3 film idea

[Bernard Bumner]

No you are not, as I've written something similar just before your post.
Someone mentioned idea about HBO miniseries.. I think that could also work, and not only as just a miniseries. But it would really need a ballsy creator, who would also happen to have a great imagination as well as sense of humour. When I think about HBO, I think someone like David Milch would have my blessings to do this. He is a fucking dialogue genius too, them who saw "Deadwood" or "John From Cincinnati" (on this one a person must a have a very open mind, also some drug experience wouldn't hurt) might just agree with me. But, as I've said before, people like that are unlikely to do game adaptations.

A major problem is that studios are obsessed with the idea that video game adaptions must necessarily be filled with cartoonish action sequences and as many knowing game references as possible, in order to appeal to their notion of the typical game fan; i.e. strange, with an attention span measured in seconds, and utterly credulous.

Fallout could provide the inspiration for a great story, but a simple rehashing of the games would be expensive, probably pointless, and almost certain to attract exactly the wrong kind of film-maker...

Just be grateful for Mad Max, Twelve Monkeys, and Jean Pierre Jeunet's post-apocalyptic pieces, and probably leave it at that?

 

[Outbreak]

@Multidirectional: I think the miniseries idea is a great one. It didn't even occur to me. I've been on a kick here recently of Battlestar Galactica, Dexter, Rome and a couple of others, and those are/were all awesome shows taken seriously. I think if you gave it to the right guy, I think the miniseries setup would allow him a little more freedom too, with more hope of doing it right. I'm sure people either love it or hate it, but I enjoyed Tin Man and that seemed to be something that particular director was looking forward to for a long time and did what he wanted to do, good or bad. Of course, it might be interesting alone to have Mad Max spinoff as well, like his kid. (taking a line from Fallout 2) The mistake would be to make it like the Dune remake. I didn't hate it, but not exactly near the movie quality by any means. The first thing they'd need to do right though is the effects. Sounds goofy, but it seems I enjoy most of the stories and/or actors in these things, but effects, especially in Sci-Fi series, can make or break the show alone. Sort of like Firefly. I still look at that and think, "wow, cool." If it looked like they were flying something out of Flash Gordon, it would have really hurt.

Just a side note too, Multidirectional. It's a shame about that girl in Silent Hill if you thought she did well in that other film. She definately had the look, but it's like they told her "act creepy and cold...ALL the time." So even when she shouldn't have been, she was. But...as I commented before, I noticed weird misdirections with Radha Mitchell (the lead) as well. I loved her in Pitch Black, and so to see her go from highly emotional in the correct places to "I'm sort of confused" in completely wrong places, told me something was haywire. It could have all been wonky direction which makes no sense considering the director. Weird. That's why I call, "rushed."

EDIT: After Jericho bit the dust, I have also been trying to catch this other post-apocalyptic show, Jeremiah. Don't know if it's great or not, but it isn't bad at all, IMO. That's what I'm talking about though. It looks like something that someone is trying to do seriously on their own, but flying under the radar of those that would otherwise wreck it with Hollywood BS. The only thing that they suffer from, once again, is the low budget.

 

[Humpsalot]

Oh God Bethesda has the movie right? Can't wait for 300 director style Teddy bears to the face as you kill the protagonist president in this gritty post apo movie.

 

[archont]

Oh God Bethesda has the movie right? Can't wait for 300 director style Teddy bears to the face as you kill the protagonist president in this gritty post apo movie.

That's totally not what Fallout is about. In the real Fallout universe you walk up to the guy, hand him some buffout - hand him some more buffout - then hand him even more buffout. Then the slow-motion bullet-time spinning camera as he pops the last handful of buffout and dies. That's Fallout.

Fallout could make a great movie, but I'd rather not. The overall, bird's eye view of the plot isn't too great. The beauty lies in the details, the fine storyline threads of individual towns and individual people. Which means a good writer would be the difference between a thoughtful, interesting, multilayered storyline and a bland post-apo permutation of slay princess, have sex with dragon, marry king. Someone who can create a good storyline for the Fallout universe wouldn't bother with it, as he could just write something by himself, without the limits of game lore.

 

[Nonagon]

A Fallout 3 movie would be a disgrace to Uwe Boll's good name.








....

 

[terebikun]

The mistake would be to make it like the Dune remake. I didn't hate it, but not exactly near the movie quality by any means.

Wait, you think the Dune movie was better than the miniseries? I may be biased because I hate David Lynch (with the exception of The Elephant Man and maybe Wild at Heart) but I always saw his Dune adaptation as just objectively bad. Espeeeecially if you criticize it in terms of its special effects, most of which have aged pretty badly.

 

[Moving Target]

Oh, that depends on what you're looking at.

In terms of performances, the Lynch film wins.

In terms of being in line with the actual story (well, as long as you don't get into the super-squished "Children of Dune" follow-up miniseries) it's much closer.

I like both, but I definitely like the mini-series much more.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

I don't care if they had some chimeric monster of George Lucas, Stanley Kubric and Chris Nolan do a Fallout movie... it would never, ever work because a movie can't be non-linear and that's what Fallout is ALL about.

Go see Clue and see how that holds up.

As awesome as Clue is I'm not sure that is the best way to make a Fallout movie. That said, I'd love to see that team make another similar movie.

I wonder what the cast would be like in a Fallout film? Or, which characters they would actually include in the movie?

Ideally, it would be Patrick Stewart as a kind of 007 secret agent with mental powers that can make women take all their clothes off.

Nah, post-apoc doesn't really work for Patrick Stewart's script.

 

[mandrake776]

A Fallout 3 movie would be a disgrace to Uwe Boll's good name.








....

This is ridiculous. Fallout three might not be the best game ever ever ever, but the idea that it's going to be a bottom of the barrel game doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

As awesome as Clue is I'm not sure that is the best way to make a Fallout movie. That said, I'd love to see that team make another similar movie.

I absolutely agree. I was just mentioning it to point out that film is not only a linear medium.

Nah, post-apoc doesn't really work for Patrick Stewart's script.

It's too late. He's seen everything.

 

[oihrebwe]

if they don't make a movie maybe we can at least get uwe boll to beat up todd howard

 

[Slaughter Manslaught]

In many ways I think Fallout may well suit a series better than a movie. Series have much more screen time (For something like Fallout it would probably be about 13 hours a season) and due to having a lower budget tend to focus on things like character development and decent dialogue much more than movies tend to, and the increased length does help to better create varied and clever character development.

I totally agree with you here, sir.

Movies are too short. A series is just what is adequated.
Fallout 1 could be divided in three or four short seasons. Fallout 2 is VERY HUGE, though.


BTW, I wonder why we never had a book, comic book or novel in the world of Fallout. Maybe even with a pulp style. It would be interesting to say, see a book or comic book of Van Buren.

 

[Outbreak]

@terebikun & Moving Target: That's interesting you guys liked the Dune miniseries better than the film. But again, as I said, I really didn't hate it. I was speaking more in terms with the atmosphere, performances, etc. All those great actors and scenes. I didn't think the miniseries captured that as well. I'd call the film more "haunting". As far as story, you may be right, but I enjoyed them both as far as that went. Different portraits of the same item. Effects disappointed me a little in the miniseries, (only comparing to what had been coming out at the same time) but it was actually some of the actor choices and style that hurt it more for me. (such as the gal they got to play Chani... She didn't fit at all for me while other roles were perfect) Maybe the film doesn't hold up as well, but it still wins me over on style/feel.

Anyway, it's all matter of opinion, but in relation to a Fallout series is that I want them to make sure the style is right. Such as Dune, I would rather Fallout look/feel like the film than the series. In all fairness though, if the series had been slightly tweaked here and there, I probably would be happy either way.

EDIT: I was just thinking: the fact that we are even having this debate whether a film is better than a miniseries is good. That shows how much the quality has been improved for television items like this, and makes it even more plausible to put Fallout on such a platform.

 

[Herr Mike]

Fallout would make a terrible movie. What would translate well? Finding a water chip? Oh yeah, that's really gonna resonate with audiences.

The best you could hope for is a good post apocalypse movie with the Fallout name. Post-Apoc is a great game genre, shat for movies. Fallout was good because it was a good game.

Very, very few games have concepts strong enough to carry a movie. Of the games I've played, I'd get excited over a Bioshock movie, maybe System Shock, maybe Half-Life. And heck, those would make good movies because all of them borrow liberally from existing book/movie ideas.

Bioshock = Atlas Shrugged
System Shock = Terminator, Star Trek First Contact, 2001
Half-Life series = The Mist, Lovecraft, War of the Worlds (Note: I don't think Half-Life 1 would work.)

They also have some very compelling characters and baddies. The Master was okay I guess, but he was no SHODAN.

If you made Fallout into a movie truly recognizable as Fallout, it would seem like a movie made from a game because people like the game, and that doesn't work.

 

[aenemic]

if there is a movie, it's gonna be based on Fallout 3. and there'll be no water chip, there'll be Liam Neeson as the Vault Dweller's father

 

[MrBumble]

Fallout could make a cool animation film I guess but a movie would look ridiculous/cheesy if not done by Terry Gilliam or Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

 

[Bernard Bumner]

Fallout would make a terrible movie. What would translate well? Finding a water chip? Oh yeah, that's really gonna resonate with audiences...

The water chip is a MacGuffin. You may as well complain that Pulp Fiction is a film about a suitcase...

 

[Multidirectional]

Just be grateful for Mad Max, Twelve Monkeys, and Jean Pierre Jeunet's post-apocalyptic pieces, and probably leave it at that?

Twelve Monkeys is my favorite among those, but I don't think it's a post-apocalyptic movie. Actually I think it's more likely before-apocalyptic. But I wouldn't dare to propose my version as a right one, cause it is one of those "decide for yourself what this all really means" movies.

P.S. I hate the fact Heath Ledger died before finishing his work on a new Terry Gilliam movie. Well at least he did great in Dark Knight.

 

[Aero]

for the humor factor I'd go with Kevin Smith. ONLY IF HE WAS ALREADY A FAN

or as was mentioned before the guy behind Firefly. ( Josh Whedon )

Also there would be way to much effects to do a FO3 movie as they would have to make a DC set.

1 or 2 would be doable since southern Oregon has a lot of dry desert like areas. (not as hot as death valley either.)

Wonder how they would incorporate the pipboy though. Hope it wouldn't be too tacky. Hmmm Filmed in the new Isometric view using over head camera shots unless directly talking to a talking head.

 

[Multidirectional]

for the humor factor I'd go with Kevin Smith. ONLY IF HE WAS ALREADY A FAN

Seriously? I think he is a very amateur filmmaker, and his jokes are very cheap too for the most part. But hey, guys like that are exactly who get to do game adaptations.

Some people are just too fixed on game references in the movies, the way I see it. There shouldn't be any Fallout game-like quests in the movie. What I would want to see, is a post-apocalyptic drama, inspired by Fallout games. Of course there would be violence and such, it's a cruel world. Hey, maybe even more cruel than ours.. But movie should take from games only those things that wouldn't make it look more like a game, and less like a movie. It could make for an interesting social commentary as well as exploration of human nature.
Boy, do I have a love/hate relationship with Fallout film idea. On one hand, I'm just dreaming of all the great storylines and characters that could happen in this movie, on the other hand, I think there are so few people who could do this film right, I'm almost sure the wrong person would be making it.
Surely I wouldn't want these cheap, usually Oscar winning, types like Spielberg to get their hands on this.

 

[dirtbag]

In all seriousness though, I think Fallout would work as a decent movie, the problem is the length. Fallout 1 would have to have 2 movies to encompass the entire plot, while #2 would have to at least be a trilogy.

Of course not! Have you ever seen the movie called Eragon? That movie shows clearly that a epic adventure can be awesome and unconfusing in 1:30 hours