

“You don’t want to go in with just an idea and be one of 200 projects. “They made it a hell of a lot better,” O’Brien said.īut companies like EA have to know what kind of film they want to make when approaching studios. We’ve had our knocks in the studio system,” with the executive saying he’s learned from the experience in trying to get “The Sims,” “Spore,” “ Mass Effect,” “Army of Two” and “ Dante’s Inferno” made into movies.Īfter DreamWorks picked up “Need for Speed,” it spent another six months developing the script with the company. “EA was batting 0 for 5 before we began funding scripts. “We decided we have to pitch the projects as scripts,” O’Brien said. That company has “Assassin’s Creed,” “ Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell” and “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon” set up at New Regency and Fox and Warner Bros.ĮA and Marks discussed development on “Dead Space” during a panel discussion on videogame adaptations at San Diego Comic-Con on Thursday. It’s similar to a move other publishers like Ubisoft are making with their own adaptations. The publisher’s Patrick O’Brien, who oversees EA’s film adaptations, said by taking more control over how its films are developed, it can push the projects forward faster toward a greenlight and have more of a say in what the final film will look like creatively. SEE ALSO: Ford’s Mustang Races to ‘Need for Speed’ DreamWorks jumped at the chance to produce the film that Disney will distribute on March 14. “ Europa Report”-scribe Philip Gelatt wrote a version of the script that EA will develop with another screenwriter.ĮA and DreamWorks recently wrapped production on “ Need for Speed,” a racing actioner, starring Aaron Paul, that’s based on another successful game franchise for the publisher.Īfter seeing several of its projects languish in development with producers or studios around Hollywood, EA chose to fund development of the “Need for Speed” script, by George and John Gatins and George Nolfi, and shop it to studios itself. The producer had been attached to “ Dead Space” for more than three years, from when DJ Caruso was eyeing the project as a directing vehicle. Justin Marks helped develop the story for the film that Neal Moritz will co-produce. Electronic Arts is breathing new life into plans to adapt its sci-fi horror videogame “ Dead Space” into a potential film franchise.
