Mass Effect Movie in the Works

Electronic Arts sent out a press release late yesterday announcing that they’ve granted Legendary Pictures film rights to the Mass Effect franchise, and that work is already underway to bring the sci-fi RPG franchise to the big screen. Legendary Pictures has a pretty good track record, but I’m still not convinced that this will have the mass appeal they think it will:

LEGENDARY PICTURES OPTIONS FILM RIGHTS TO EA AND BIOWARE’S MASS EFFECT

Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that Legendary Pictures, whose successful co-productions include The Dark Knight, 300, Clash of the Titans, The Hangover and Watchmen, has acquired theatrical feature film rights to the hit videogame franchise, Mass Effect. The project will also fall under Legendary’s co-production and co-financing agreement with Warner Bros., who will distribute the film worldwide. The producers are in discussions with Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, Thor) to draft a screenplay based on the epic science fiction game series. Legendary’s Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni will produce the film with Avi and Ari Arad. BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will serve as executive producers, as will Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson.

BioWare’s epic science fiction series takes place in the year 2183 and follows Commander Shepard of the SS Normandy who leads a team on a mission to defeat an ancient alien race that invades the galaxy every 50,000 years, wiping out all organic life. The most recent game in the series, Mass Effect 2, was released in January of 2010, and earned rave reviews from critics worldwide.*

(Mass Effect is a tremendous property ripe for translation to the big screen,) said Thomas Tull, Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures. (Mass Effect is a prime example of the kind of source material we at Legendary like to develop; it has depth, compelling characters and an engaging back story. This coupled with Avi and Ari producing and the skills of a great team adapting the screenplay, are the start of turning this smash videogame based property into a successful feature film.)

(We are thrilled to be working with Legendary,) said producer Avi Arad. (EA and BioWare are terrific partners who have created a brilliant piece of fiction with a universe filled with amazing aliens and technology. More importantly, though, they created a parable whose conflicts mirror the ones we currently face in our own world. This story emphasizes the need for all cultures to learn to work together. All this magic is presented in a fast paced action-adventure that makes for the best kind of movie experience.)

(At BioWare, we’ve always thought of Mass Effect as having the depth, emotion and plot twists perfectly suited for an adaptation to a motion picture,) said Casey Hudson. (With Legendary and Avi and Ari Arad attached, we believe that the Mass Effect movie will be an extraordinary entertainment event that realizes our vision for the franchise and thrills fans.)

Pat O’Brien, VP of EA Entertainment added (The mission of EA Entertainment is to take key EA properties and find additional ways to bring these properties to people. We can’t think of a better fit than Mass Effect and we couldn’t be more excited to bring Commander Shepard’s adventures to the silver screen.)

Mass Effect 2 is available on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC. Assets are available at info.ea.com. For more information on Mass Effect, go to http://masseffect.bioware.com/

About Legendary Pictures

Founded in 2004, Legendary Pictures owns, produces and delivers, on a global basis, some of the world’s most popular intellectual property to the powerful fandom psychographic as well as broader audiences. With partner Warner Bros., Legendary Pictures’ productions include such global blockbusters as The Dark Knight ($1 billion worldwide), ‘˜300’ ($456 million worldwide) and The Hangover ($467 million worldwide). The company has established itself as a trusted brand which consistently delivers high-quality, commercial entertainment. Among the projects that Legendary is currently developing is an adaptation of the phenomenally successful interactive game universe Warcraft; to be directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman). Through complete or joint ownership, Legendary is building a library of marquee entertainment properties.

About BioWare

BioWare develops high quality console, PC and online role-playing games, focused on rich stories, unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world’s most critically acclaimed titles, including Baldur’s Gateâ„¢, Neverwinter Nightsâ„¢, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republicâ„¢, Jade Empireâ„¢ and Mass Effectâ„¢. BioWare operates in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec) and Austin (Texas). BioWare’s announced projects include the dark heroic fantasy game Dragon Age: Origins, as well as Mass Effect 2â„¢, the epic sequel to Mass Effect, and the story-driven massively multiplayer online game, Star Wars®: The Old Republicâ„¢. In 2008, BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts, a leading global interactive entertainment publisher. For more information on BioWare, visit www.bioware.com; to join the millions of fans already registered on our community, go to social.bioware.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EAâ„¢, EA SPORTSâ„¢, EA Mobileâ„¢ and POGOâ„¢. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.