Half-Life and Portal movies have writers and are "in development" - JJ Abrams - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=Coyoteze;49930751]This thread is reminding me of "Escape From City 17". [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1UPMEmCqZo[/media][/QUOTE] That's the issue I always had with fan made movies and novelizations. You take away game mechanics and interactivity then you're left with pretty generic "people against regime" kind of story with Half-Life fan service. I just don't see how HL would ever work, considering the whole game was built on playing around with engine possibilities. Portal might work though.

[QUOTE=the tee;49931029]That's the issue I always had with fan made movies and novelizations. You take away game mechanics and interactivity then you're left with pretty generic "people against regime" kind of story with Half-Life fan service. I just don't see how HL would ever work, considering the whole game was built on playing around with engine possibilities. Portal might work though.[/QUOTE] All they'd have to do is make the movie about Griggs and Sheckley. Instant classic.

[QUOTE=Loadingue;49930717]Remember that Valve actually declined Quentin Tarantino's script for a Half-Life movie because they didn't like it. If it's happening with Abrams, it means it's really good.[/QUOTE] I know he is a fan, but where did you see this?

The problem with making a video game movie, especially with games like Half Life and Portal, is that if you make it extremely true to the source material and just make a movie version of the game, it's going to suck. Gordon and Chell are effectively mutes, and if you made their characters talk you're no longer being true to the source material, so most of the fans will probably hate it. Sure you could make up some side story of a couple of rebels doing something, but then you just look like a fan movie which wouldn't be that great, also you'd have to cameo main characters of the IPs themselves, but if you get those wrong in the slightest, most of the fans will probably hate it. Most video game movies are shit, the only passably decent one is the Postal movie and that's by Uwe Boll, so I think he just got lucky with both the film and the source material. So people will go into the film expecting something not very good because it's a video game movie. Even with JJ Abrams who's much better at TV series, I doubt any film/tv show/whatever based on Half Life or Portal would be good.

A movie would be a step down for the portal series in all honesty. They really used the video game format to its best degree. To be fair, I didnt play the game because I particularly liked solving the puzzles. I really just wanted to get to the next bit in the story. But by having it just be a big cutscene essentially really robs it of its best moments.

[QUOTE=matt000024;49931081]I know he is a fan, but where did you see this?[/QUOTE] I can't find any source on this, so maybe I must have been wrong. Well okay nevermind then.

[QUOTE=Tuskin;49930261]No one said they'd be based on Gordon or Chell.[/QUOTE] Gordon Frohman will be making his film debut [QUOTE=AaronM202;49930721]Why would it even be remotely related to Chell or Gordon.[/QUOTE] OK, OK, to be serious for a moment, no it doesn't have to be about Gordon or Chell. What I mean by saying both games are focused on silent protagonists is that a movie pretty much couldn't be focused on them because they have absolutely no chemistry with anyone because they are a dead silent vehicle for the player. But at the same time they are both central to the stories in which they take place; if you're doing Half Life 2 then Gordon is a fucking messiah who gets the rebellion rolling, if you're doing Half Life 1 he's the one who [sp]starts and stops the Xen invasion[/sp]. And then Portal is just entirely about Chell because she's the literal [sp]only living character in the facility except the Ratman[/sp]. So just about the only way to fit in someone is to do something I think would feel like self insert fan fiction or retconning shit. Not to mention Portal the Movie would probably have low to no puzzles so you're just going to trim out the most important part of the series. Half Life 1 would also just be an awkward movie because you'll have to completely start from scratch because there's nothing BUT gameplay. The story is absolutely minimal and everything important that happens is entirely centered around Gordon. Who are you gonna do, some random scientist? Yes, you could do Shepherd, but nobody cares about Shepherd. He hasn't been touched since 1999, and Valve has never mentioned or shown any interest in him. Most Half Life fans probably don't know who he is, let alone any mainstream audience. I dunno, I just have next to no hope for a Half Life or Portal movie. They're both games that exist for their gameplay, not for story. Then again, I have no hope for any video game movie ever!

Can't wait for this awesome movie! [img]http://www.globalnerdy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/halflife-hugh-laurie.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;49931367]Gordon Frohman will be making his film debut OK, OK, to be serious for a moment, no it doesn't have to be about Gordon or Chell. What I mean by saying both games are focused on silent protagonists is that a movie pretty much couldn't be focused on them because they have absolutely no chemistry with anyone because they are a dead silent vehicle for the player. But at the same time they are both central to the stories in which they take place; if you're doing Half Life 2 then Gordon is a fucking messiah who gets the rebellion rolling, if you're doing Half Life 1 he's the one who [sp]starts and stops the Xen invasion[/sp]. And then Portal is just entirely about Chell because she's the literal [sp]only living character in the facility except the Ratman[/sp]. So just about the only way to fit in someone is to do something I think would feel like self insert fan fiction or retconning shit. Not to mention Portal the Movie would probably have low to no puzzles so you're just going to trim out the most important part of the series. Half Life 1 would also just be an awkward movie because you'll have to completely start from scratch because there's nothing BUT gameplay. The story is absolutely minimal and everything important that happens is entirely centered around Gordon. Who are you gonna do, some random scientist? Yes, you could do Shepherd, but nobody cares about Shepherd. He hasn't been touched since 1999, and Valve has never mentioned or shown any interest in him. Most Half Life fans probably don't know who he is, let alone any mainstream audience. I dunno, I just have next to no hope for a Half Life or Portal movie. They're both games that exist for their gameplay, not for story. Then again, I have no hope for any video game movie ever![/QUOTE] what about BARNEY

[QUOTE=elowin;49931475]what about BARNEY[/QUOTE] What is Barney without his bordering on actually gay bromance with Gordon

You could just make a portal movie as a comedy with the scientists going around trying not to get fired, so they have to make this amazing device in a week. Ends up with them getting fired and leaving just as Glados gasses the place with deadly toxins.

Hopefully this is one of those situations where they're writing the script so they can send it to Valve to get their green light for the movie, so there' still hope that this won't happen. A Half Life or Portal movie is a terrible idea. [editline]14th March 2016[/editline] The only way to make a decent movie out of either of them would be to so fundamentally change it from what happens in the game that the question would be, "Why did you need to base this off a video game anyway?"

[QUOTE=Hamaflavian;49932701] The only way to make a decent movie out of either of them would be to so fundamentally change it from what happens in the game that the question would be, "Why did you need to base this off a video game anyway?"[/QUOTE] I agree there's nothing in particular about the Half-Life universe that calls specifically for being expanded upon in the form of a movie (no more than a new game, at least). However, putting an original script in the context of a bigger franchise can in itself help produce a bigger impact. Half-Life 2 is actually a good example of this; the continuity plot-wise from the first HL is so weak that barring a few NPCs and some dialogue it could easily have been released as an entirely separate game with a different silent protagonist and nobody would've been none the wiser. But by integrating the story as a continuation of the Half-Life franchise it elevated both itself and the original game by shining a new light on the previous events. This only has a positive effect if the continuation is actually good though, it has the opposite effect otherwise. So to re-iterate; even movie a script only loosely connected to the established Half-Life canon has the potential to both be great on its own as well as elevate its predecessors, if done right. The likelyhood of this happening feels depressingly low however.

I feel like some of you are reading the title too literally, Im thinking the films would be movies set inside their universes, not just literal adaptations of the game. Mainly because Valve have gotten tons of game adaptation movie requests and I remember Gabe saying "No thanks." to all of those.

I can't wait for the scene where Gordon drives through the canals on an airboat for two hours.

The movies would be great if they were separated from the main games but in the same universe.