John Woo’s Metroid – OFFICIAL News

Well this is certainly enough for Nintendo fans to get very excited, as Reuters today reports that John Woo has optioned the movie adaptation rights to Metroid.

Nintendo fans will remember that a Metroid movie has been talked about for months, with Zide/Perry Entertainment previously picking up the rights and presumably dropping them for Woo to acquire.

"We are very fortunate that there is such an extensive amount of material to draw upon for the film due to there being so many iterations of the game over the years," Woo said.

Itâ??s claimed that the movie will centre on the origins of Samus, and detail her adventures battling the insidious life-sucking Metroids and their controlling force, Mother Brain.

"We have to assume the mainstream audience is unfamiliar with the property," said Brad Foxhoven, who also serves as a producer. "As for the rest of the film, we will stay true to the game and have Samus battling the Metroids and Mother Brain in a fight for control of the galaxy."

Intriguingly the Press Release claims that Wooâ??s video-game studio, Tiger Hill, is overseeing development on three original games. The first title is scheduled for release in late 2005, and will see Woo directing the game cinematics, the story and voice acting whilst also supervising motion-capture and managing character designs. Itâ??s believed that SEGA have an agreement with Tiger Hill, although itâ??s understood that they are also developing titles for another publisher.

"We are bringing in top-notch Hollywood talent to our games due to John's influence and connections," Foxhoven said. Referring to "Max Payne" and "The Getaway," among others, he added, "Many games have already borrowed from John's films, so it was a natural progression for John to work on video games himself."

Weâ??ll have more information soon.