Earlier today at the Gamescom 2013 Sony Computer Entertainment press conference, Ubisoft announced that their film division has struck a deal with Sony’s film division to start development on a feature film based on their upcoming game release, Watch Dogs. After the announcement, game play for the PS4 game was demonstrated for the crowd.
When asked for comment about the upcoming film partnership, Jean-Julien Baronnet CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures said this:
“Since both Sony and Ubisoft have movie and video game branches, this deal creates exceptional opportunities for us to merge the realms of the story-based cinematic experience with the interaction of the video game. In addition, Sony Pictures and New Regency have deep production expertise and are letting us maintain a strong creative voice in the film’s development. Together, we’re confident we can deliver a movie that builds upon the excitement that the game is already generating.”
Hannah Minghella, president of Production for Columbia Pictures, said, “The themes and open gameplay of ‘Watch Dogs’ lends itself perfectly to the big screen. The game has intense action and adventure, but the story focuses on information and the control of information, which we think will lead to an exciting thriller. It has tremendous potential as a motion picture and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely with Ubisoft’s internal creative team on the development of the project.”
Watch Dogs has won many awards preceding its release, and, if it lives up to its promise, will likely win more. Let’s hope that the film will garner with it as much excitement.