'Metal Gear Solid' movie headed to the big screen

If it wasn't obvious enough already with Need for Speed, Shadow of the Colossus, Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, and Deus Ex movies all on the way from some of Hollywood's top creators, video game movies are the next big thing. We predicted it here months ago, and it looks like we have somebody who agrees with us in Avi Arad, the super-producer who brought Spider-Man, the X-men, and more superheroes to the silver screen. While attending the 25th Anniversary celebration for Hideo Kojima's long-running hit video game, Metal Gear Solid, Arad announced his plans to turn it into a feature film....

Arad: “For many years I fought to bring comics to theaters—and video games are the comics of today. We will take our time and tell the story with all the nuances, ideology, cautionary tales needed.”

Let's hope Metal Gear Solid goes better than Arad's troubled attempts to bring Uncharted: Drake's Fortune into theaters. That film recently lost its director, Neil Burger, and seems to be back at square one with a pair of new writers.

Metal Gear Solid was a first-person stealth military game that debuted on the Playstation back in 1998, and was a sequel the awesome 8-bit game, Metal Gear. It follows a soldier named Solid Snake who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to stop a renegade special forces unit from launching a nuclear strikes. The first game sold over 6 million copies worldwide, and has spawned numerous sequels, comic books, novels, and even a radio program. Subsequent games have delved deeper into Solid Snake's past and have broadened the scope of his mission considerably. Over 30 million copies of Metal Gear Solid games have been sold over the last 25 years.

There aren't any details at this point, but the role of Solid Snake is going to be one eagerly sought in Hollywood, and so I imagine will be the director's gig. Kojima listed his favorite actors as Matt Damon, Hugh Jackman, and Ben Affleck, with his favorite director a Christopher Nolan. The chances of any of those folks being involved are crazy slim, but it'll be interesting to see if they get approached. [Game Informer]