As we’ve discussed numerous times on this website, video game adaptations into the TV or movie space have been incredibly hit or miss over the years. Even when we have a string of worthy adaptations or just ones that at least try to be credible to the source material, others come along and muck things up, wondering if Hollywood will ever learn. Yet, due to the success of recent projects in both TV and movies, there are some projects that have been greenlit for adaptations that many are looking forward to. Sony announced some recently, and Final Fantasy VII might be getting the tap as well.
This comes from the original game’s director and current “remake saga’s” producer, Yoshinori Kitase, who noted the following in a recent interview:
“We don’t have anything officially planned and so this is just strictly my personal sort of wish, but yeah, I’ve heard about various Hollywood directors and actors playing Final Fantasy 7, and many creators also respect the title. I’ve been hearing things about creators out there who are very interested in the property. And so yeah, personally I’d love to see something that comes out of these creators, in terms of like a cinematic or some kind of visual piece.”
For some, this will feel like déjà vu, as there was a movie based on the beloved RPG, and it was called Advent Children. While a bit divisive, the title has become a key part of the fanbase, as it served as an epilogue story to things and showed true closure with characters like Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart and giving another epic battle with Sephiroth before “ending him” once and for all.
The movie was so impactful that the Square Enix crew behind the remake saga revealed that there weren’t just references to it in the first two games but that they would continue referencing it in the final part. In other words, “I will never be a memory.”
So, the question now is, how would you do a modern-day movie/TV series adaptation of Final Fantasy VII? That is the true question, and the answer isn’t that easy to come up with. Based on the remake saga itself, they could just use the current in-game engine and make a movie or a show. However, many would just call out that it’s just “cutscenes from a game.” If they went the original story or live-action route, that would cause different problems, including whether there’s a “need for this.”
Only time will tell what’s decided.
