This totally made my day: The 2005 PlayStation 2 game, Shadow of the Colossus, is going to become a movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. For those of you who have played the game, you already know why this is wonderful news. For those who haven’t, let me explain. Colossus is an adventure game in which you guide a young man and his horse through a hauntingly barren landscape in search of colossi — huge, majestic stone creatures. In order to bring your loved one (a young woman) back to life, you must destroy each of the land’s colossi, which is not an easy feat since some of them stand several stories tall.
The game’s atmosphere is hushed and introspective. Unlike other games in which you must complete dozens of side-missions and consult with a plethora of supporting characters, Colossus is extremely simple-minded in terms of your objective. But as you roam the landscape in search of your next battle, something about your surroundings (void of life, save for plants and a few lizards) starts burrowing its way into your emotions. I never wanted to leave this place, and yet with each slaughtered colossus, I felt as if I was somehow harming this world. What a powerful game.
Of course, I doubt a filmed version of Colossus will ever live up to the experience of playing the game; for instance, how is Hollywood going to fill all those sparse passages of silent wandering? I hope they don’t replace the game’s sense of exploration with additional action scenes, but you know they probably will. It all depends on the director Sony chooses, and I have only one suggestion: Guillermo del Toro.
I suggest Del Toro because of a specific hour-long interview he did with blogger Jeffrey Wells last June. Del Toro gushed to Wells, unprompted, about his specific love for Colossus. "It’s a gorgeous piece of storytelling," Del Toro said. "Absolutely immersive, beautiful, and poetic. Colossus actually has, I think, the most engaging storyline and the most engaging, intelligent gameplay in many, many years." I cannot think of a director who better understands the unique charms of videogames, and one whose own sensibilities are so perfectly in sync with Colossus. Alas, Del Toro is tied up until at least 2012 with the two Hobbit movies, but I don’t mind. I can wait. Sony, you gotta make this happen.
PopWatchers, are you with me? Could there possibly be any director more appropriate than Del Toro for this movie? Should this movie even be made? Discuss.
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yes this movie should be made…. I watched my brother obsess over this game and it looked like a movie… I think if it’s made correctly, it will be amazing. Del Toro would be a prime choice, but knowing the movie industry, Sony is likely to choose a director who will be able to spit the movie out by next summer.
It’s a video game movie, therefore it will suck unbelievably hard.
Wow, out of all the games in history that could be greenlit… Fantastic news (fantastic game!), and totally unexpected. My worry, of course, is that Hollywood generally (and freaking Uwe Boll in particular) massacre video game based films. It’s frustrating that my excitement may be directed towards something that will never be even close to what it could be.
michael bay should make this and then we could have a break dancing ebonic spewing collosi
Holy crap.
I completely agree, the director should definately be Del Toro.
Yup. Del Toro is the only one who could ever make this perfect. Sadly, I doubt the studio will ever get him to do it. I’d prefer they NOT make this a movie if it’s going to be crap.
Hey wasn’t most of Castaway Tom Hanks alone on the island? Well have the hero walk around this gorgeous background maybe thinking to himself a la Spiderman comics and wondering if what he is doing is correct in killing these Colossi. Or just make the atmoshphere of the place around him make the audience think for themselves. I’m trying to remember a movie where the environment is almost a character.
i dont think the game in its original form can be transformed into a movie, its all silent, the protagonist only shouts his horse name, and u have that ” god” speaking in that weird language. its very not hollywood, the only way to do it is to change it, and it will lose its charm. i loved shadows
I’d throw Ridley Scott into the mix, especially if he could tap into some of that vivid style he pretty much perfected in films like ‘Legend’ and ‘Blade Runner’. But GDT obviously would be a dream come true.
Too bad Stanley Kubrick isn’t alive, he’d make an awesome choice. But alas, I guess Del Toro would be the best, Or Peter Jackson.
The worst idea I’ve heard in a long time.
This is a GIGANTIC mistake.
Hollywood, don’t touch SOTC.
First of all, I knew that one day this game would be turned into a movie, but I sort of dreaded the idea souly because I love this game, I don’t want it to be ruined and the core of the story is one man, his horse, a dead (or never-waking) woman and 16 colossi to kill in order to save her. My best idea to make this work is to fill the blanks of the story: Who is the “Wanderer”? What’s his village like? Why did the woman die? Was it a ritual for something? How did the “Wanderer” steal the woman back and the sword of light? This things are the perfect backstory to fill the quietness in the journey, as suggested by John Young here. Another thing, I don’t think is a good idea to show the battle of all 16 colossi because it would be too much. They should, a least, show in between of the movie several of the battles in a row, a scene of a couple of minutes. And an important thing, which is half of the experience, DO NOT CHANGE THE MUSIC! The wonderfully orchestred music sells itself.
I don’t know much about the different directors out there to give an opinion of who should be chosen to direct the film, but I do have something to say about the movie, if it were made.
A while ago I played Shadow of the Colossus from start till finish in one day, and I finished it within 6 hours, that of which, I did not screw up during any of the fights and did not get lost whilst travelling to each Colossus.
Now, the maximum length for a movie, I’m assuming would be 3 hours, and maybe thirty minutes above. Imagine that 6 hours that you play through Shadow of Colossus being cut down to 3 hours. When you think about it, quite a bit would have to be taken out. They might even take away some of the Colossus battles, most likely the ones that they consider boring. But if they do show each Colossus fight during the movie, then you wont see much of the Wanderer travelling around on Agro.
To anyone who would like to express an opinion or elaborate on this, don’t hesitate.
Larry, with a good editing job the movie could be just fine within 2 hours 30 minutes. Normaly, that is the likeable average for a movie with this simplistic plot, though IT IS a very impressive story, and ending. The game is about less than 9 hours, and that is counting: 1. the travels with Agro, 2. the cut-scenes and 3. the colossi battles. And as I said, with a good editing team, you can easily cut several unimportant moments and travels with Agro, leaving the good experiences in. About the colossi battles that you mentioned could be cut to make space, like I mentioned in my previous comment here, show several battles in a row in one montage scene. This will intensify the movie experience.
I’m so pissed. I was looking forward to making this movie. I already had good ideas for it. Well if they’re gonna make it they better make it good. If it sucks I might be homicidal.
i honestly think that having this game made into a movie would be great but it really all depends on the director, if GDT was to do it, it would become a great movie but they should find some way to make it more exicting like puzzles before you can get to the colossus kind of like the door before the last one that would make the movie much more exciting
Wow… I thought I was the only one who thought Guillermo del Toro should direct it… But you all think the same XD I saw his Pans Labyrinth and other movies… hes always making the setting and monsters so mysterious. Im sure he could pull of a movie! I want him to take over so badly!