December 07, 2004
Screenwriter makes changes to Doom
It looks like famous last words when I said in another post that the people at Id were being really clever and holding onto the rights for the movie Doom so they could get the right deal and a proper adaptation.
Now, with news from Dark Horizons making me spurt my tea across the monitor, I find myself mocking my very own words and shaking my head slowly in despair.
Before I make a quote from their story, let me remind you of the story of Doom. A project in a science research lab on Mars goes terribly wrong and leaves a gateway open to Hell itself, a sole Space Marine is left alive and takes on the hoardes of fiendish creatures in the form of mutated Marines and those direct from Hell.
Okay, keep that in the fore front of your mind and read the following quote:
Screenwriter Dave Callahan claims "everyone was keen to keep the game's atmosphere", though there are some "minor" changes done to the film's concept:
You can already tell can't you?
The monsters have nothing to do with hell, the plot is not taking place on Mars and "space marines" are not well "space marines" as their outfits are more like SWAT team members.
The story follows eight marines, teleported into a command centre of a secret base on a remote planet. There, they learn that something strange is happening and soon monsters start to appear. The monsters aren't from hell, but rather people mutated by some nasty super-virus although the monsters look very similar to those in the game.
What?! So Doom now just turns into Resident Evil Redux? Geez, so much for Id looking after their product, Callahan has effectively turned this totally away from what the original idea was all about. Wait though, there are a couple of similarities still.
There will be loads of shooting though, especially in the end where a large number of sequences will be shot purely in "first-person" perspective of the leading character (Karl Urban). The chainsaw and Bio Force Gun do appear in the film.
Well thank the lord for that. We can watch a replay of some of the original game but in modern day movie magic. Oh dear lord, did anybody on this project watch Resident Evil and see the returns? I don't want to make harsh judgements, but already this looks bad. If it does work out well, it'll just be another version of RE, and nothing much to do with Doom.
Posted by at December 7, 2004 03:09 PM
Comments
Posted by: Mark at December 7, 2004 05:57 PM
If you want to start a poll on "movie that ended up being the furthest removed from it's source material" I'd vote for 'The Lawnmower Man'. Similarities between the film and the short story include the title, errrr... there was a lawnmower in both... errrr... hmmm.
Posted by: Darren at December 8, 2004 07:20 AM
BBLLAAOORRBGGGHHARAAGAGAghahahahahhh.....
rrrrraaawwwwrrrrrrr!!!
what the hell??!?!?!
what have they done to my sweet, preciouse, sweet, lovely delicouse, suculent doom?!?!
How?
Why?
miles MAD!!
whoah...had to get that out of my system, and with it all out and whatever, is anyone really suprised? why they would change the winning formula, miles can never understand.
and what really gets me, is the pg 13 crowd is to young to have pkayed the original, and according to the rating on the box, should nto even be able to play the damn game. but they are who the movie gets targeted at!
i hate everyone!
shame on you ID software!! Shame!!
Posted by: miles at December 8, 2004 10:30 AM
One wonders how anyone could do something so fundamentally stupid as deciding to make a movie based on something and then making it so totally different as to be unrecognizable.
Isn't the whole point of making a movie adaptation to appeal to the fans of the original product?
Just what the world needs - another crappy zombie film based on viruses instead of the supernatural...
Posted by: Sourtone at December 9, 2004 04:32 PM
just face it, every time a video game is made into a movie, it will suck and will never follow the original storyline. Resident Evil doesn't really follow the original storylines of the games and hell obsolutely DOES have to be included in DOOM or everybody will be pissed. I betcha it will end up like House Of The Dead, the crappy quality F movie.
Posted by: turd ferguson at December 12, 2004 11:23 PM
Hey! Turd Fergusen. It's a funny name..
Posted by: Mantiss at December 13, 2004 02:16 AM
OK
LOOK--they should not--let me rephrase---to the people doing doom and the directors--bla bla bla---DO NOT DO A MOVIE ABOUT DOOM--DO A MOVIE ABOUT HALF LIFE 2...
HALF LIFE 2 WOULD be the SHIAT
seriously? HAVE YOU GUYS NOT SEEN THE POPULARITY OF HALF LIFE ? IT IS WAY, WAY, WAY BEYOND DOOM
WHY DO YOU IDIOTS (EXCLAMATION ON I) ALWAYS DO MOVIES ABOUT "THE WRONG" VIDEOGAMES?
HALF LIFE -- IS EVERYTHING YOU GUYS WANT:
it has an incredible fanbase
It is sci-fi/action instead of sci-fi/horror
It will be more itneresting to a larger pool of people (the storyline is darker--more mysterious--less blunt/gorry --which only applies to a minority--and half life is more intelligent--and farsighted than DOOM will ever be) bunch of hellish creatures in space---wow! sounds SO ORIGINAL---HALF LIFE is all twisted---and although the short sighted few get impacted by the DOOM gore---the HALF LIFE technology and storyline depth (the half life feel--trademark) is what makes it real. It feels real...not like DOOM, another imaginary videogame about the devil. SATAN--I MEAN, it's like in the old days when they tried to scare you into religious beleif through SATAN...I don't beleive in SATAN....doom's gay.
the only thing you guys have to fear, is living up to HALF LIFE..
but if you talk to LAIDLAW--I am sure (since he is also writer)---will help you keep the "half life" feel....
and with that, and keeping GORDON FREEMAN "acceptable"
your all set...just get laidlaw and freeman and YOUR ALL SET TO EARN MILLIONS---because EVERYBODY WHO PLAYED HALF LIFE WILL SEE IT---MORE THAN DOOM
STEVEN SPIELBERG---your into aliens right?
are you not into the aliens and sci-fi and jurassic park---michael chrighton?
mark laidlaw is your next michael chrighton
and so are many of the themes in the video game industry
maybe your retiring, I don't know
but I think you not only like to leave movies, but LEGACIES
HALF LIFE, is that kind of "idea", like jurassic park, encounters of the third kind---....that will leave a legacy...
HALF LIFE could be your last legacy maybe? your last and best legacy?
michael chrighton is getting old anyway...
the new literature is in the video games..more people are playing them than reading books, that's for sure.
choose your games wisely and you'll capitalize on that---now rivaling your own industry by a lot.
I know steve will not read this---like 0.0000000 * 10^50 probability that he will.
but at least the ordinary people that read this blog---and be able to pass the idea---but most probably the people visiting will be DOOM fans..and hate me for saying the above..
O well, I won't be so negative. They most probably will do a movie out of it---eventually--, since it's so popular..and also halo. But----the sooner the better..
the reason I adress Steve, is that he is probably the only one that can make the movie live up to what it really is....I won't be dissapointed if it's less that what I expect---that's very high--I will still see the movie 50 times (there you go--to anybody wanting to do the movie)---but STEVE has been known to make these INCREDIBLE movies out of good handpicked ideas-----and this is an INCREDIBLE IDEA...so combine both and you get a freiken explosion.
But anybody out there....director---I promise that if your talented enough, you'll make more money than jurassic park---you have to fine tune it though---just like any adaptation...but once adapted---LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY
MONEY MONEY MONEY ..
Posted by: Tiberian at December 14, 2004 03:17 PM
NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT IS A BIG F**KING GUN NOT A BRIO FORCE GUN!!! I WANNA HERE A SPACE MARINE ASSAILED BY HELL DEMONS SCREAM, "WHERE'S THE BIG F**CKING GUN!!??" AND THEN A CLOVEN HOOFED DEMON CRUSHES HIM WITH ITS CLOVEN HOOF AND BELLOWS LIKE A BULL FOG HORN, THEN SPEARS THE DEAD SPACE MARINE TEARING HIM IN HALF WITH ITS HORNS!
i would pay dearly to see a film like i describe!
Posted by: Doom at December 14, 2004 08:06 PM
>> For a PG-13 film (and let's face reality: the producers are aiming to sell this to the teens), the MPAA is not going to allow these elements.
Posted by: Jon Davis at January 1, 2005 09:36 AM
someone better do a movie of half life---
they just better
:|
Posted by: half life at January 21, 2005 10:30 PM
This doesn't sound good for DOOM fans, but let's face it: The scenario of the game itself is highly unoriginal. Space marines? Aliens. Mars setting? There were two major movies produced set on that planet, and both pictures bombed. Demons and Satanic imagery? For a PG-13 film (and let's face reality: the producers are aiming to sell this to the teens), the MPAA is not going to allow these elements.
And the "twist end" that's been reported? My guess is that it turns out the whole thing actually takes place on Earth, and is part of a government/military conspiracy. The characters are teleported to a military lab where they have been intentionally subjected to a new bioweapon/virus.