Mass Effect Movie: No Femshep, no Seth Green, Original Story.

[Smooth Operator]

Well you people should understand how these movies are made:
- accountants at EA are looking for ways to make more money, and big flashy movies make 200 mil easy, well any good accountant would want to get in on that
- then they pick the most sell-able IP they own, find a somewhat capable studio and throw some money at them
- studio asks random directors if they want to make bank on the next big thing and someone always does
- then the director picks the writers, cast, location, ... for his own vision of the movie

Now if all the stars align perfectly a movie director who actually likes / knows this franchise will be picking up the work, he will get all input from the original ME writers, and he will pick up all the right cast, hopefully he will even have enough resources to make it right... and then maybe just maybe this would be the next Batman.

However the usual 90% case is that no director wants to do other peoples art, only their own, so they pick up the IP to get in on the funds and then they just shoot the movie they always wanted to make, with their own buddy writers and their own buddy cast... and the current situations smells very very close.

 

[Ch@Z]

You know, why are they making a Mass Effect movie anyway? The game is already cinematic and it's not like the story is so great.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Listening to fans can be the kiss off death to a film of a game. What we love in games doesnt always work well in movies, especially when a movie is limited to 1.5 hours. As long as they write a great script and story based on the ME universe and add some characters from the games i dont care. I love the ME games, but i dont want the same story in the movie. We already know the ending so what would be the point. Can make a new story, maybe showing what Shep was getting up to in between games 1 and 2. That would be far better in my opinion.

Give it a chance people, atleast until we see real information.

 

[Vrud]

Well, that's a dumb move. I thought it had been established that the movie would be set in a different time period . . . ah well, better than fighting the Turians.

 

[Rapamaha]

I believe the movie will most likely suck anyways, Im still going to watch it ofcourse when it comes out, good thing Bioware will complete the game trilogy before the movie hits so when I watch the movie after the trilogy I can just pretend that the movie never happened and enjoy the perfectness of ME story

 

[Jesus McChrist]

There's really no reason to not have Seth do the part, if he'd be interested. I really don't know how I'd feel about anybody else spouting sarcasm at Shepard throughout the film. He fits the part perfectly, I can only imagine that if he's not cast, it's because of money or scheduling, not because somebody thinks Seth Green can't accurately play Seth Green.

As far as Shepard goes, I play a female, but it always seemed that the male soldier Shep is really the star. The CG scenes in the trailers and such always had that default skin, it seemed that's the Shepard that actually has a role in the universe, and it makes perfect sense that they're casting based on that. Another issue is what his alignment would be. It might be an original story, but he's still going to be either a nice guy, or a total prick. I see the default Shep as paragon, but that doesn't make it so. Male or female, paragon or renegade, somebody's getting alienated. And then there's what class he is...

As with any endeavor like this, things will change, so we can at least hope that somebody gets Seth to sign on. I wouldn't hold your breath on Shepard changing, though.

 

[Cyrax987]

I honestly can't say I like a lot of Femshep fans, since from my experience on the Bioware forums, you're flamed for giving any compliments to Mark Meer who voiced Maleshep. Because complimenting the dude and not Jennifer Hale is ludicrous it seems even if you support both voice actors.

Funny how they're the minority but yet the most vocal about something as silly as a gender selection in a game. Back to the topic at hand Seth Green not playing Joker is a fail in my book.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

So it's a Mass Effect movie staring Shepard, but it isn't following the story of the games? Then why the fuck do they need to keep Shepard? Couldn't they just keep it in the same universe with a new story (possibly prequel) and just reference Shepard if at all?

I don't know, the Mass Effect series never really screamed "WE NEED A MOVIE!" at me before. I don't see any point in creating a movie based on the game plot because it just wouldn't be the same as playing through it.

 

[Vrex360]

Well on the positive side, not being about the actual main story won't ruin any characters that I've grown to like over the years (Ashley, Wrex, Garrus, Jack, Mordin, Samara, Grunt, Thane, Tali, Legion etc) so that's something.
Truth be told, the idea that they might turn well rounded characters into one dimensional stereotypes was one my the primary reasons I was worried about Mass Effect being made into film. While this version sounds pretty crap, I'd rather a crap thing that has virtually no relation to characters and themes that I've grown to like then to see said characters and themes get ruined.

That said I understand why they would make a new story with nothing to do with the games, after all the way the plot of the games come together are based on the personal choices of each player involved so that everyone gets their own version of Mass Effect, a movie would only be able to go down one path and subsequently would piss off a lot of people if it doesn't go the way they envision for it.

All the same, still sounds like crap. Certainly don't plan on seeing it.

 

[the27thvoice]

Now I'm not going to claim to be a massive PR merchant here, but wouldn't having a femshep attract a lot of teenage guys to the movie. Having a extremely hot chick, who is also a total badass as the main character is going to sell a load more tickets than one with a boring dude who looks like a shaved gorilla, and you never know, they could do Femshep well, and actually make a strong female character..... yeah, not much hope there. Femshep will probably have a fan-service shower scene just for the hell of it.

No, no, no, no, no, please no!
They NEVER get the strong female lead right in movies. Never. Not ever. They get a super model, dress her in as slutty an outfit as they can find, give her a rifle and have her shake ass while bouncing about. FemShep has a good grasp on her sexuality, but sex sells is the Hollywood mantra, and I don't doubt a second they too would want to bring the teenage boys into the audience by making her pure eye-candy.

If they did femshep it would have to be a tough girl with a bit of cute, not an "extremely hot chick". And Hollywood really can't ever get that difference right.

Better to go with male Shepard, at least there's less to screw up there.

 

[notanick]

I'm not entirely sure that I am the only one to think this, but does this game series even need a movie? Personally I enjoyed the games as they were, without the need for a series to capitalize on them. (And yes, I realize that this entire debate is being brought about as a result of the companies involved wanting to make even more money off us)

But I really enjoyed the games as games.... the movies feel unnecessary to me.

 

[Vuliev]

Meh, I'm a FemShep fan, and I've always known that she wouldn't be in any movie, so it doesn't really bother me (even though Jennifer Hale was the more believable voice actor... >_>) The fact that Green isn't Joker, though, is absolutely retarded. Seriously, Green's voice acting made Joker, and casting anyone else is a slap in the face to everyone.

And as some people have pointed out, any portrayal of Shepard that doesn't fit with how they RP'd him is going put a lot of them off, myself included.


Oh, and now that I think about it, if the Illusive Man's in this, then I wonder if they could do the same thing they did with CLU in TRON Legacy, just to allow Martin Sheen to continue voicing him. One can dream, right?

 

[Char-Nobyl]

Hello, it's me RatRace123, and as I occasionally do, I'm here to present you with some movie adaptation news filtered through much fanboy rage and bias.

Well, at least you're honest about what's to follow.

Apparently, the Mass Effect movie will indeed star a Male Shepard,

Well, duh. MaleShep makes up, what, 80% of character creations? Makes sense to me.

will feature an original story rather than adapting the plotline from the game;

Again: duh. The game plotline isn't even complete yet, is by no means static to begin with, and, most importantly, is really long. If you base the film on the game story, it'll just be a watered-down version of the games.

and perhaps most distressing of all, will not feature Seth Green as Joker. From what I gather, Joker will be in the film, but not played by Green.

Well...yeah. He voiced Joker. He didn't provide the character model.

This, for some reason, really pisses me off. Maybe it's just that the idea of a Mass Effect movie isn't something I'm too into anyway, but this casting decision just feels kinda wrong.
Is it because he doesn't look the part?
(picture)
Yeah, totally don't see any resemblance there.

To be honest? Not really, no. He's a white guy with a thin beard. Face is different, hair color is different...the list goes on. You've just so associated Joker with Green's voice that it's overwhelming all the things that don't match up with the two.

It's still early in pre-production but they need to do something that will please the fanbase. Even if it's not entirely necessary. I can best equate it to casting Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime in the Transformers movies.
Did they need to do that? No, and they seemed to be able to recast all the other Autobots just fine, but throwing the fandom a bone like that definitely earned the film a lot of positive buzz.
The exact same kind of buzz that a potentially high profile project like Mass Effect needs.

That's completely different. Peter Cullen, like Seth Green for ME, is a voice actor. They didn't have him dress up like Optimus Prime, and unless they plan to insert a CG Joker or redub the actor's lines with Seth Green's voice, the producers can't do the same thing here.

-It stars Commander Shepard (The customizable player character in an open ended game) rather than working off of other ideas in the shared universe (of which there could potentially be an infinite amount)
-Specifically it stars Male Commander Shepard, which risks further alienating the 40 or so percent of the fanbase that prefers Femshep.

And it's better to pander to the minority because...? If anything, that's more likely to piss off the majority because it writes them off as irrelevant.

-And now, we know that Seth Green won't be reprising his role.

He wouldn't be reprising anything. He never did anything but voice Joker. How is that hard to understand?

Like I said, it's still early, but there's not much here that looks all that appealing. They need some positive hype out there, and the easiest way to do that IMO, is in the casting.

I may be overreacting, in fact I am, and I'm nowhere near as pissed as my ranting may lead you to believe, but the whole situation still rubs me the wrong way.
Joker's a fairly important character and is one of the few characters who could realistically be portrayed in film by his voice actor, and to have him not just seems like a stupid desicion.

You know what? Yes. Seth Green could do a great Joker...if Joker didn't already have an established appearance. Green's got the voice (literally), and he can probably nail the mannerisms.

But, as an alternative example, just because Steve Blum can voice John Sinamoi doesn't make him the perfect fit for a live-action adaptation of Dead Island.

Edit: The statistic for FemShep players is actually closer to 20%, but no one can deny that they aren't a damn dedicated 20%.

Dude, 80% on one side is the political equivalent of a landslide. No one has ever done anything against the opinion of such a massive majority because they thought that the super-minority would be extra-dissatisfied with the outcome otherwise.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Straight to DVD.

 

[Catfood220]

I need to ask one question and one question only of people who make video game movies *ahem* WHY DO YOU KEEP CHANGING THE FUCKING PLOT!? No seriously, why? I mean, ok, in SOME game movies you can get away with it a bit (Silent Hill, Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider etc) but i just don't get why they always need to change so damned much with these movies and keep only bare minimum of what the original story was? This might sound incredibly cruel but...WE DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR ORIGINAL STORY, we just want to see the same story we played through but only on the big screen. I mean, you keep comic book films practically the same nowadays so why not video games? URGHHH!

Anyway, on topic: I honestly don't see this working...at all.

They change the plot because they need to. Can you imagine trying to get the exact same plot of Mass Effect into a movie? For a start, the movie would have to be at least ten hours long.

Also, because 99% of video games plots are pure shit. Not that the movie versions turn out any better, mind you

Plus if someone was to make a movie that with a plot that went something along the lines of the game, there would be a massive lull in the middle of the film where Shepard keeps stopping at each planet and mining for minerals.

Also, if the movie is exactly like the game people may notice how much the plot rips off a lot of Sci Fi shows like Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek.

 

[Piorn]

Guys, why don't we take the technology of 3D glasses and make every scene with male- and femshep, and depending on which glasses we chose, we get the one we want to see. We'd need headphones though, or Shepherd needs a gender neutral voice.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

I'm more pissed about Seth Green :\

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

Slightly at a tangent to the original post but something I would love to know the answer to on the subject of the 20% who play as a female (and it's kinda important when decisions are made based on this statistic):

I haven't seen how Bioware arrived at that statistic. Is it:

1. the % of people who started the game as female?
2. the % of people who finished the game as female?
3. the % of total hours ever played by all players as a female?
4. Other

They gather data from people playing online. If you play a Bioware game while connected to the internet, they're grabbing stats for every move you make.

 

[magicmonkeybars]

Straight to DVD.

And those DVDs straight into a fire.