The road to bringing the beloved techno-thriller stealth video game Metal Gear Solid to the big screen has been long and winding. CinemaBlend reported in 2012 that a Metal Gear movie was in the works from Columbia Pictures. Still, a decade later, the on-again-of-again project seemingly isn’t much closer to becoming a reality. Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts was hired to helm the project in 2014, but details beyond that have been very scarce over the last eight years. Moon Knight actor Oscar Isaac voiced his desire to play Solid Snake in a film adaptation. The movie’s director was also keen on the idea because it wasn’t long after Isaac made his desires known that the star was officially cast. So what is the state of the movie now?
The Dune star recently spoke to ComicBook.com about his upcoming graphic novel, Head Wounds: Sparrow, but talk soon turned to the ever-in-development Metal Gear project, where the actor gave a minor update. Though Isaac doesn’t give us much information to go off of, he reiterates the importance of getting the script and their take on the material “right.” The actor also expressed the team’s desire to bring Solid Snake to the big screen in a way that will make fans excited. The actor said:
We want it to happen. Be excited. What’s the script? What’s the story? What’s the take? […] But hopeful that comes to fruition because there’s so much potential for that. It’s an incredible game. It’s my favorite.
Though a somewhat vague statement, the Ex Machina star seems to confirm the project is still in development while also recognizing the level of care required to get a game adaptation right. If the last few years of adaptations have taught us anything, it’s that video game adaptations’ greatest strength and weakness can be their loyal fan base.
Movies and television shows based on video game properties are becoming more and more commonplace. You don’t have to look further than our upcoming movie releases list or our 2022 television schedule to see how many adaptations were released this year alone, with many more around the corner. Long gone are the days of fans accepting half-baked interpretations or haphazard remixes of their favorite games iconography (I’m looking at you, Netflix’s Resident Evil series). Fans often have no problem voicing their opinion when they perceive an adaptation to have missed the mark. For example, look no further than the initial design for Sonic The Hedgehog‘s first cinematic outing.
When the trailer for Sonic The Hedgehog dropped, fans were greeted by straight blue nightmare fuel. The initial character design for everyone’s favorite Erinaceidae was creepy, to say the least, and fans took no time to go to social media to share their outrage. And for better or worse the film’s director and studio listened, hit pause on the movie’s release, and gave the character an overhaul, which paid off for the studio. Sonic was now more aligned with what fans had come to love and recognize. With the redesign in place, the Sonic movie was a hit embraced by its fans, who felt heard and had a sense of ownership of the character and film.
For Metal Gear Solid to be successful, it should take a page out of the Sonic The Hedgehog playbook by embracing what fans have come to love about the series. The filmmakers should try and replicate the games’ neo-thriller gritty look and feel, of course, but, more importantly, they should embrace the cinematic storytelling already present in the series.
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts has said in previous interviews that his take on Metal Gear will be a remix rather than an adaptation of a single game or storyline. This direction, in my view, is a mistake. Anyone who has played a Metal Gear game knows that part of the appeal of the fun of playing them is their hours of dense story and cutaway scenes that are often as rich in detail and depth as any movie.
Hopefully, the moviemakers will consider choosing one of the eleven games in the series and make a faithful adaptation of its story. If it is a hit with audiences, there will be plenty of time and story left over for sequels, making a remix unnecessary.
Currently, there is no release date for Metal Gear Solid. For all of your film-going plans in the coming months, you can look at our 2022 Movie Release Schedule.