Len Wiseman hasn’t had the greatest of luck in getting a project off the ground since Die Hard 4.0 (although, if you’re thinking of feeling sorry for him, remember that he’s ridiculously good-looking, rich and successful, and married to Kate Beckinsale). Escape From New York came and went, while there hasn’t been a great deal of movement thus far on Shell Game, his sci-fi passion project that’s over at Sony.
But as of now, the Gears Of War are in motion, with Wiseman having struck a deal to direct the adaptation of the best-selling videogame for the newly reconstituted New Line. Chris Morgan, the screenwriter who collaborated with Wiseman on Shell Game (and who co-wrote Wanted), has been hired to pen the script.
Widely considered by experts in the field (ok, our young art whippersnapper, John, who was born with a joypad in his hands) to be one of the greatest games of the last couple of years, Gears Of War is a sprawling epic in which a team of soldiers helps defend a planet, Sera, from alien invaders. Same old, same old, but Gears Of War scores points for its all-out action, eerie mood and stylish action – so it should be right up Wiseman’s street.
Of course, it’s early days yet, but this could be another videogame adaptation, along with Gore Verbinski's planned Bioshock and John Moore’s upcoming Max Payne, that gives the genre a good name. Fingers crossed.