Games + Hollywood = Gollywood?

Despite the buzz surrounding Wes Craven's recent interest in game development, high-profile Hollywood directors making the leap to the electronic medium isn't entirely a new trend.



John Woo gets a Stranglehold: Hong Kong action director John Woo (The Killer, Face-Off) and actor Chow Yun-Fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, A Better Tomorrow) are teaming up with Midway to produce Stranglehold. Considered to be an unofficial sequel to the amazing 1992 Hong Kong action film Hard-Boiled, Stranglehold will see Yun-Fat reprise his role as Inspector Tequila in this balls-to-the-wall shooter that promises to ooze with signature Woo style.








John Carpenter the Psychopath: Horror director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing) is rumoured to be collaborating with Titan Productions on a new first person action title called Psychopath. While little is known about the project, the plot is said to revolve around a former CIA operative who is forced back into duty to stop a serial killer. In conjunction with developing the game, Carpenter is also in pre-production with the film version of Psychopath; Carpenter will direct the film and the game cutscenes, as well as working on the character design.





Steven Spielberg the secretive: Iconic director Stephen Spielberg (ET, Saving Private Ryan) is as high-profile as they come. Spielberg, an avid gamer himself, last year signed-on to create three next-generation games based on original properties with Electronic Arts. While both EA and Spielberg are tight-lipped as to what these titles will involve, gamers can only hope that Spielberg weaves his directorial magic in the electronic medium.





With all the recent banter about the US gaming industry being more profitable than the Hollywood film industry (usually consisting of selective figures that only count box office sales, and exclude film rentals and sales), it looks like Hollywood have taken notice. With the storyline of an average video game being about as limited as Keanu Reeves acting in a straightjacket, the involvement of Hollywood must surely be a positive sign? It's just a shame that Stanley Kubrick isn't around...