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Added by Brad on Sept. 18, 2008 74 comments
Your casting choice?
Here's your big-game-franchise-being-turned-into-a-movie story of the day--but for once, it's a deal I actually want to be optimistic about. Variety's Cut Scene blog says EA has optioned Mass Effect film rights to Avi Arad, the prolific producer and former Marvel Comics movie guy who once embarked on a quest to put at least one film in theaters based on every single Marvel property ever conceived. (Seriously, look at the guy's credits on IMDB.) Arad was a key player on the X-Mens, Spider-Mans, and Iron Mans of the world, so on the Hollywood side I want to believe this project has at least a dim hope of not sucking.

More importantly, the Mass Effect fiction has the sort of breadth and depth to support lots of good stories, regardless of their medium. Most games take place inside a fictional space just big enough to contain their core narratives--but Mass Effect, the universe, is way bigger than Mass Effect, the game, as anyone who read the Revelation prequel novel can attest. It might have been easy to pass the game off as the-KOTOR-that-wasn't, with its numerous elements that cribbed straight from Star Wars. (Dark energy? Oh, you mean the Force!) But there was so much more going on in there, all the different alien species and cultures, the politics, the galactic strife. (Man, I could go for some galactic strife. Then again, I spent a lot of my time with Mass Effect thinking longingly about a Star Trek: The Next Generation-style weekly TV drama, so maybe you shouldn't pay any attention to what I say.)

Variety's Ben Fritz points out the malleability of Mass Effect's Commander Shepard, who you could make a man or woman with as many different possible appearances as the numerous face sliders allowed. But I was perfectly happy playing through with the stock male Cmdr. Shepard when I ran through Mass Effect; the producers could probably get by casting a square-jawed B-lister with a shaved head and call it a day on that front.

I wanted to make a tasteless joke about blue-alien sex scenes here, but I'll let you have fun with that in the comments.

Does the idea of a Mass Effect movie do anything for you? Would you want to see a theatrical adaptation of the game's plot, or a different storyline altogether? And do you think Seth Green should be in it?
Filed under : Mass Effect

74 Comments

Kevin
on Sept. 18, 2008
Paul Walker for Commander Shepard.

Rorschach
on Sept. 18, 2008
Karl Urban, sans hair, for Shepard!

Peach
on Sept. 18, 2008
I do think Seth Green should be in it.
Dunno if I'm gonna see this.

NickL
on Sept. 18, 2008
not to keen on the movie, considering i was one of the few who seemed to hate this game

GalvanizedNails
on Sept. 18, 2008
this is something I could totally get behind!

TheGTAvaccine
on Sept. 18, 2008
I dont think the game has enough roots to justify a movie.

Jimbo7676
on Sept. 18, 2008
It could be okay. Yes Seth Green should totally be in it.

MattBodega
on Sept. 18, 2008
Soooo....Jason Statham?
Mass Effect: It's like Crank in Space!

lamegame621
on Sept. 18, 2008
Seth Green as Joker mos def. hmm...Samuel L. Jackson should be in it.  Very Awesome. I want to see this in movie form.  Jason Statham. Excellent. Jason Statham as Kaiden Alenko sounds great to me.

j_meyer_13
on Sept. 18, 2008
Mass Effect would make an awesome movie, if they could pull it off.  And Seth Green should definitely be Joker.

Mago
on Sept. 18, 2008
Matthew Fox for Shepard?

Aether
on Sept. 18, 2008
Would love to see that movie. Jackie Chan as Commander Shepard plz. And Chris Tucker as...someone. I need to see them reunited.

mad4it89
on Sept. 18, 2008
It would be a travesty if Seth Green wasn't to play the Joker.

RagingLion
on Sept. 18, 2008
I really loved the game and would kind of feel obliged to see a film of it if they put one out.  If they kept to the storyline of the game it would obviously mean more to me, but the galaxy and races were awesome enough as it was to create all kinds of cool stories.

Francois
on Sept. 18, 2008
John Malkovich as Shepard.

GioVANNI
on Sept. 18, 2008
A Mass Effect movie would be great...

CaleShepard
on Sept. 18, 2008
I love Mass Effect (notice name)

p.s. I also would love to see John Malkovich play Shepard hahaha

SDHero
on Sept. 18, 2008
Screw all those guys.  Sarah Michelle Gellar as the female version of Shepard.

And yeah, Seth Green as the character played by Seth Green seems like the easiest casting decision ever.

SpikeDelight
on Sept. 18, 2008
ONE MILLION PERCENT Shepard should be played by Jack from Lost. He looks really similar to him (although not with that facial hair in the picture) and I think it'd be a perfect fit.

Oncomouse
on Sept. 18, 2008
Who's to say there will even be a Commander Shepard in the movie? 

I would much rather see an original story in the Mass Effect universe.  There was a ton of foundation laid in that game.  Why do we need to see the same story played out again?  A prequel could be interesting - something about the fall of Saren at the hands of the Reapers.  Or something about the first contact war between the humans and Turians could be great as well.



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