The Metal Gear Solid movie. We want it to happen. We keep hearing it’s going to happen or is happening. It hasn’t happened yet.
In an interview. Oscar Isaac, who is tied to the project and was announced to play Solid Snake himself, shared this statement when asked about it:
“We want it to happen. Be excited. What’s the script? What’s the story? What’s the take? […] But hopeful that comes to fruition because there’s so much potential for that. It’s an incredible game. It’s my favorite.”
How long ago has the Metal Gear Solid movie been even a thing? In our archives we have a report that goes as far back as August 2012! In the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear franchise, Hideo Kojima himself was on hand to make the announcement. Just three months after the release of the movie Marvel’s The Avengers, Kojima revealed that it was being made in association with Sony’s movie studio Columbia Pictures, and Avi Arad.
Avi Arad’s history needs to be discussed here. He first came to prominence as co-owner of toy company Toy Biz. In this capacity, he became part owner of Marvel Comics, saving it from bankruptcy. It was also Avi that pushed Marvel into the movies, producing their first film projects, including Iron Man and Spider-Man.
However, in 2006, Avi left Marvel Studios to pursue his own Marvel and non-Marvel related dream projects. Those projects include the Spider-Man Universe movies under Columbia and Sony, the Bratz movie, the 2017 Ghost in the Shell live action movie, the Uncharted movie, and the Metal Gear Solid movie. They also include failed and or unfinished projects, including an adaptation of young novel series Fablehaven, and a film adaptation of the Infamous movie.
Both the Infamous and Metal Gear Solid movies have been sinking in development hell for years after they were announced, for reasons that have not been disclosed to the public. It may not be entirely fair to put the blame of these projects failing to launch under Avi, but it is noteworthy that he made these announcements and failed to follow up if those projects were cancelled, on hold, or had some other status.
In September 2012, Kojima announced that the game would definitely focus on Solid Snake. In 2013, Avi gave an estimate that the Metal Gear movie was three years away, so it should have released in 2016. In 2015, a writer for the film had come up listed on IMDB, and in 2017, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, now named the project’s director, went on record to state that the movie was under development.
Somewhat similarly to video games, movies can fall under development hell, but it usually plays out differently. For example, video games like Duke Nukem Forever, and now, Star Citizen, have seen constant delays as the developers fail to put on hold the scope creep to improve their respective projects’s game engines, graphics, etc. On the other hand, movies like Freddy Vs Jason, Mad Max Fury Road, and Deadpool end up getting delayed because the movie studio fails to get the project properly started. When scripts get rejected, directors back out, funding falls out, or other setbacks happen, movies don’t get properly started or finished.
Without Avi Arad saying so, it’s more likely that he ran into setbacks like this when working on the Metal Gear Solid movie. While it’s been disappointing that a movie hasn’t been made for close to a decade from its announcement, years after Hideo Kojima left Konami, Oscar wants us to hold on to faith that this movie is finally coming. There are definitely fans who are holding on to that even until now.
Source: ComicBook.com
