In 2010, Mass effect Fans were in for a wild surprise: the popular video game franchise would be adapted for the film, with BioWare playing a practical role in its development. After the announcement, the adaptation was accompanied by a number of exciting names. Avi Arad (known as the co-founder of Marvel Studios) was to become a producer, Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. funded the film, and several BioWare employees would be heavily involved.
Unfortunately, that’s all we’ve ever heard of the project – and now it appears officially dead in the water.
in the a new interview with Business Insider, Mac Walters, director of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, confirmed the Mass effect Film project was abandoned by the Legendary team.
“It felt like we were always fighting intellectual property,” Walters said of the project. “What story are we going to tell in 90 to 120 minutes? Are we doing it justice? “
It was these concerns that ultimately led to the script being revised and deleted.
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Like everyone who has played Mass effect knows that the games cannot be reduced to a simple 2-hour movie. The narrative is about huge, global adventures, the relationships you build along the way, and the struggle for justice in a vast, cosmic universe. A one-off film would have erased so much of the nuance Mass effect has.
According to Walters, it went through several changes before it was discontinued – including developing an episodic TV series. But even though Walters and Legendary themselves made a transition to television, the project failed.
“It never started again after that, not for a lack of attempts,” said Walters Business Insider.
This does not mean that all hope for a future adaptation of is lost Mass effect, although. While Legendary Pictures has apparently cooled the idea of adapting the story, Walters believes it is only a matter of time before other interested parties call. Video game adaptations are on the rise again, and Mass effect is ripe with a story worth telling.
It could be the potential success of upcoming adaptations like HBOs The last of us inspires executives to revisit the project – but on the other hand, it could just be another good idea resting on the shelf of development hell.
This story originally appeared on Kotaku Australia.
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