Watch, Don't Touch: Watch Dogs Movie In The Works
It's Gamescom, one of the many firework-enshrouded peaks of game convention season. You know what that means: glitz and glamour galore. No, the Hollywood-style antics don't quite reach the fever pitch of, say, an E3, but there's still plenty of triple-A chest-thumping to go around. And so, Ubisoft has rolled out another movie deal, this time for not-even-out-yet open-world hackomancy thing Watch Dogs. Technically, the game's title now has an underscore in it, but I refuse to write it that way because it looks hideous. Anyway, like all videogame movies (except ones based on franchises no one cares about), it'll probably never come out. But let's listen to a bunch of executive types be super optimistic anyway!
Ubisoft is pairing with Sony Pictures and New Regency for the project, and no one thinks they're jumping the gun on a game that has yet to prove itself successful or even good at all. Here's Ubi:
“Since both Sony and Ubisoft have movie and video game branches, this deal creates exceptional opportunities for us to merge the realms of the story-based cinematic experience with the interaction of the video game. In addition, Sony Pictures and New Regency have deep production expertise and are letting us maintain a strong creative voice in the film’s development. Together, we’re confident we can deliver a movie that builds upon the excitement that the game is already generating.”
It's worth noting that Ubisoft is also working with New Regency on Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell movies. Both have yet to materialize in any appreciable way, though Ubisoft does at least have a dedicated film branch that's produced some surprisingly decent short film advertisements. Maybe at least one of these blockbusters will someday see the light of day? I'm not sure if I'm particularly interested in watching when I could be playing (and let's face it: these games have utterly rubbish stories), but it'd be nice to see something come of all this Hollywood hoopla.
And hey, if nothing else, Watch Dogs certainly looks like it wants to be a movie in its new Gamescom trailer. Have a look-see below, and then destroy all your gadgets in sheer future shock terror. It's the only way to be sure your phone won't be used to blow up a light.
(Disclaimer: I think Watch Dogs looks like it could be an interesting game, though I worry that the hacking will just be relegated to the status of a cheap, context-predetermined gimmick. I want it to be good, but I just find this movie business to be a bit preemptive.)