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Doom Movie Scriptwriter Dave Callaham Interviewed
rsmith-mac writes "The HomeLAN Federation has posted an interview with Dave Callaham, the scriptwriter for the forthcoming Doom movie. The interview goes over id's influences on the movie and willingness to change the mythology to work with the movie, along with the earlier reported studio shift, and some very light details relating to the characters in the story. If all goes as planned, the Doom movie will start principal production this month in order to hit the theaters in August of 2005."
Interviewer: So, Mr. Callah, let's start with the most important question on everyone's mind. Will there be lava? And, perhaps more importantly, will there be crates?
Callahan: I want to put everyone's mind to rest on this point. The studio has the best lava people in the business, and they've specifically assured me I will have a free hand.
Interviewer: Phew. Also, before I forget. we're all dying to know. Will the hero at any point successfully outrun a fireball? This is something that is so important, not only to me, but I think I can speak for all moviegoers out there. It's an image that really really gets better every time I see it.
Callahan: Well, Ed, I don't want to give too much away, but we briefly considered having the hero run from a nuclear explosion! Don't worry, there'll be plenty of what we know the audience loves most.
Interviewer: So, let's talk about the plot. Which of the hero's family members will be killed? Mother? Father? Both parents? Or will it be a hero-parent who loses his kids?
Callahan: Actually, what I'm allowed to say is that we're going a bit unconventional on this. We're going to have a brother and a sister, and each one will lose a parent. I know this is pushing the envelope a bit, but the producers are behind me and I believe the studio will hold off and allow us some of the artistic integerity which we all know is so rare in this business.
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The best video game movie since Super Mario Brothers!
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
How long has this movie been 'in production'? I have high hopes, since Morgan Freeman has personal interest in this movie.
First Post?
I have high hopes that will be another classic video game transfer. Just like Super Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Tombraider and Wing Commander.
Resident Evil actually had some plot, and look what happened when they tried to make a movie inspired by that... But a doom movie...
Will I have to upgrade my eyes/ears to see it?
I dunno...if the whole movie just involves one actor running through a pitch black set with random zombies jumping out from in front and behind (after he just cleared the room behind him), I think the movie will get real old, real fast. Zing!
SIGFAULT
willingness to change the mythology to work with the movie
If they get stuck with this...give me a call.
G. Lucas.
At first it seemed like a bad idea all around, you know "another" video game movie, but at least this is one game that could have a good movie made from it.
Of course the first 30 minutes will be all about how we got on Mars, bringing us up to speed and then the rest of the movie will be gibs, gibs, gibs...
Get your Unix fortune now!
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will also appear as Sarge, the head space marine, but Callaham warns, "He is not going to be smiling a whole bunch. You won't see him raise his left eyebrow."
This movie is bound to be good - The Rock only accepts scripts of the highest quality.
I've been waiting so long for an action movie where there is a single hope for mankind?! I wonder if there will be explosions and stuff...?!
One thing that id did insist upon is that the main character in the movie be named John. When asked, Callaham was unsure if that was a tribute to id's master programmer John Carmack but did admit there is another character named Carmack in the movie.
Yes, quite the mystery where that came from...
Dave Callaham: "I finally got the bastards to agree to more friggin ammo...."
"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
with lot of talent and lot of time on their hands wouldnt use the Doom3 engine to (a)create new models (b)create new environments and (c) with the help of a good story writer, create a pre-rendered movie with an acceptable level of voiceover acting, great action and stuff that blows up sky high. Or does someone really need to spend around 200 mil to find what Aliens Versus Predator just found out?
I would even pay if someone could make it engrossing enough to waste a few hours on it, and salacious enough to keep the young viewers glued to their screens.
Rapid Nirvana
They had better pronounce gibs correctly. It's not Jibs -- it's Gibs! (With a hard G, not a J.)
I hope they have some nods to the other great Id Games, where a zombie rides [gc]dolomite's rocket! Or, Ogre trips over his own pinaple.
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
They were really quite generous in changing the Doom mythology a bit.
Wait, so you take the very thing that MAKES it doom, and you change it?
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Sarge Shots The Monster
Sarge Runs
Sarge Shots The Monster
Sarge Picks Up More Ammo
Sarge Runs
Monster Shoots Sarge Just Before He Shots The Monster
Sarge: Ouch!
Sarge Runs
Sarge Opens A Secret Door
Sarge Applies A Medkit
Sarge Runs
Sarge Shots The Monster
Sarge Finds A Bigger Gun
____________________________
Academy Award, here we come!
(Note: I couldn't put directions in all caps like a real script due to Lameness Filter...)
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
I can just see it now, all the folks like me who get vertigo walking through virtual mazes puking in their seats.
owns Doom.
With any luck the Doom movie will be better than the MyDoom movie. Boy did that suck.
Can they make the movie as real as the game is, especially doom 3?? I doubt it.
Honestly , i am not a fan of games2movie type of movies ... i prefer games to remain games ... i won't be watching this ... anyone else feel this way ?
This is NOT a sig - billy
Will the movie be associated in anyway with Jon Woo
MORTAL KOMBAT!!! (FIGHT!)
Ghosts of Mars
mars. demons. guns. space marines. little or no plot.
seemed like doom to me.
just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand!
...hit the theaters in August of 2005.
I'm sure they'll have no trouble at all meeting that deadline, considering their track record...
OK, OK -- Memorial Day of '09 maybe?
Let's see here. What have got:
a) Movie based around a video game whose entire plot was "bad things came from hell, kill them."
b) First time scriptwriter.
c) B-Movie director whose best credits are Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds, and involvement in such classic stinkers as Species and Speed, changed in to direct at last minute.
d) Will star The Rock and a washed out Bond girl in leading parts.
e) Tossed around between studios.
I think we are looking a three or four Academy awards, at least!
Since Doom's plot (even Doom 3's plot) is very weak and really has no substance, the movie has a potential to make up whatever story they want. Ideally, they'll leave the setting on Mars/in hell and throw in some recognizable artifacts (such as the chaingun or plasma cannon -- maybe the BFG) and put the main character - a marine - in some dirty green uniform; slap UAC on a few walls and signs and you've got yourself a Doom movie! If you REALLY want to stick to the game - add pinky demons, imps, and maybe a death knight or arch vile.
...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
I would really love to see a movie based on that game. I like the setup, it just tickles my imagination and arises my curiosity. On the other hand, it would be really easy to spoil the atmosphere of the game, if the filmmakers get it wrong. Which they almost always do. So, beware of the Doom movie, it might be a let-down for many Doom fans.
OTOH, I really like "Resident Evil" the movie, better than the game.
Sigged!
The only thing I want to see a doom movie for is to watch a real actor rocket jump to an otherwise-inaccessible ledge.
Oh yes, and I want to see someone telefragged on screen.
Its called Aliens.
If they want this movie to not suck, they better consult with James Cameron.
Hell..... if there are going to be making movies based on old shoot-em ups why not pick one that acutally has an interesting story and plot?
No see the real trick will be getting it out before the Duke Nukem: Forever movie...
Before they switched directors, this movie had a chance to be an amazing flick. The guy who was previously directing it has worked on a few Nine Inch Nails videos, and you can bet he was planning to stay as true to the original mythology with as little overdramatized love-interest-style garbage as possible. Now, it seems, it will be just another movie based on a game that hollywood butchers for the sake of the almighty dollar. The original director's unwillingness to compromise with money grubbing producers is probably a big part of why he's not on the project, anymore.
Within days after the new director was announced; the script had already been butchered with the addition of an endangered love interest and the elimination of the pre-human civilization plotline.
The evil quotient of hollywood producers is right up there with the MPAA and RIAA.
Big boobs optional. (See Mila in RE. Rrrowr!)
:p
;)
I'm still pissed about not being able to choose a female character in Doom 3. Come ON, it is 2004, drop a bit more effort into the goddamn games. We gals like playing a character that we can relate to and there are a lot of guys who like playing as the female character just so they can watch themselves bounce around.
Seriously, there is nothing like being wrapped up in a game then seeing a reflection of yourself. A big, burly, manly reflection of yourself. Suddenly you go from 'hell on Mars' to 'chair in a dark room looking at some dude on the screen', which REALLY sucks. All of that effort goes into creating a games atmosphere, but they just don't seem to get this one thing...
Vapors above steam? Yes, that is a cool effect. Having to play as a dude? Not cool. If you want to see more chicks spending their money on something other than the Sims franchise start catering to them.
[/rant]
Now if you'll excuse me I hear Sonya Blade calling me...
Hard to believe, lets listen in to that meeting:
_O_
.|< The named which can be named is not the true named
For it to really be a Doom movie, it has to be done first person shooter style.
This means, of course, that the camera has to be permanently mounted behind a gun barrel and, aside from mirrors and other reflective objects, you never get to see the protagonist's face -- because he is, after all, the true everyman, representative of everyone and specifically looking like no one. For truly, who among us has not had to slay a million zillion zombies?
A true first person shooter version of Doom / Quake etc would be cool, in a "Blaim Doom Project" kind of way ...
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
I hope they're going to make it like DooM was...
;-)
And i mean:
- people with big pipes across the chess shaking to death.
- people straped on the wall bleeding to death..
- people dying all around the place and satanic symbols!
Yeah! that's the spirit!
Remember that when facing down the Cyberdemon, the space marine shoots first!
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
I heard the plot was very character driven
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I read the books and thought that they were great. It should make for a decent movie.
If it can go wrong it wnetscape: Segmentation Fault, Core dumped
Unfortunately, his opinion of the movie so far is that it is going to be 'crap'.
- This and all my posts are public domain. I am a Physicist. I am not your Physicist. This is not Physically advice
I'm not sure how they'll overlay a *story* on the run-n-gun freneticism of an FPS like Doom, but Mexican director Guillermo del Toro from Hellboy, Blade II, and Mimic might have the right gut feel for the horror aspect of the game. He's really into bloodsucking creatures with giant mandibles that don't let go.
Did anyone else read the four Doom novels by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver?
The books got increasingly metaphysical as they reached the fourth book, but the first book was awesome and I always saw it as movie-ready. It dealth with the solipsism and paranoia of being on a space-station by oneself (and, ok, a couple of thousand Satanic spawn).
...is that the people doing CGI for the movie probably couldn't run the game on their systems.
This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it. - Dorothy Parker
So, when do we get to see the Commander Keen movie? I nominate Rush Limbaugh for the part of Dopefish.
Coming to cinemas everywhere...When it's done!
Sailors. Oh man!
You mean id was willing to be flexible with the DOOM storyline? The storyline that went something like...
It's demons.
It's aliens.
No... wait... It's demonic aliens.
No, they're really demons, from hell.
You go to hell and kill all of the demons.
Research on Mars summons demons who try to steal ships to invade Earth.
I don't know how they could EVER justify deviation.
~D
This sig has been enciphered with a one-time pad. It could say almost anything.
"...And that means a likely R rating for Doom." I'm not quite sure why this he's even questioning this. I hope there isn't some terrible editing going on and that it'll just turn out to be AVP 2005 with the whole PG13 rating.
... it'll be every bit as good as the comic book.
Al Qaeda has ninjas!
A lot of people on here are complaining about the lack of plot, but perhaps they're thinking of the the original doom games and not doom3
a) Far-flung space colony on mars
b) Experimental weapons researched by a huge conglomerate
c) Discovery of an alien race with ties to earth
d) Alien race apparently killed off by other alien race
e) Alien race sacrified many of its citizens to create a device used to stave off the baddies
f) Possibility that the aliens escape to Earth, perhaps as our ancestors
g) Nutso scientist dude
h) Freaky aliens discovered on mars, various dissections and investigations as to why they can manifest fireaballs, etc
i) Gateway to research site reveals more ugly aliens
j) Gateway to one area finds a very hellish world with more uglies and a distorted reality - most visitors come back insane (or not at all)
k) Nutso scientist trying to open said gateway
l) Nutso scientist trying to bring ugly zombies/aliens to earth
Movies have been built on less. I think if they ramped up the "investigation of alien species" and the parent race plot, you might get a cross between something from Tomb Raider, Alien, and Army of Darkness. OK, so except for Alien none of these were spectacular at the time, but a mixed plot could come out with something good if done well.
Bruce Campbell
or
Henry Rollins
That is all...
Waiting for an amusing sig.
What type of weapon can I expect for the price of a movie ticket?
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
I really hope this will be a good movie, you remember how bad some of the early video game to movie adaptations have been...heck even with the ones over the last few years haven't been all that good because like usual Hollywood has taken major liberties with the properties!
Michael
http://s1.sfgame.us/index.php?rec=58163
will it be recorded at 60fps?
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which rapper will have a co-starring role? Given the director's filmography, I think it's safe to assume there will be one. I'm putting my vote on Ja Rule, but I've been hearing good buzz about Nelly. Not for his rapping or acting, though.
It's the same frustration Matrix fans felt when seeing the sequels--"What the fuck? *I* could have done better than this!"
Hey, I'm as big a Matrix fan as the next person but I don't agree with that statement. Sure, the end of the last one pretty much sucked but the movies were good IMHO.
The architect, that was awsome... the second one is the best if you ask me. But you didn't so I'll be going now.
Get your Unix fortune now!
..given that the doom name has been ruined by the quality of doom3?
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how would this be different from any generic action flick? i mean doom is just a generic shoot em up which is the equivalent of a generic action flick
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
An hour and a half of some guys hands. This ought to be fantastic!
What it does have is a universe with certain symbols and actions that people who played doom will expect in the movie.
Except that that was exactly what was wrong with super mario brothers. There they had to bolt a story on a game universe that really didn't have a story yet keep the "regonizable" bits. Like the jumping boots, the walking bomb and other crap.
Doom is pretty close to the world of alien and we all know what a hit and miss that his been with people trying to tell their story and yet keep it fitting in the alien universe.
I hope that if this movie ever happens it will only take the art direction from the game. Any reference to game elements like searching for colored keycards, health packs, powerups will ruin it totally.
Frankly I think it is going to be as bad as all the other "he this is a popular game lets make it into a movie despite the fact that their is no story at all present and a lot of silly stuff people are going to expect wich aren't any fun and will totally confuse any member of the audience who doesn't know the game". History seems to agree with me.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
They gave the main character a name, thus depriving him of his everyman status. True, it's a generic movie name, and he may not have a last name, but he's no longer anonymous.
for a look at how to really adapt videogame culture into a movie, check out Olivier Assayas' demonlover. It mimicks the lifestyle/experience of playing a video game and surfing the net, with things bouncing off each other and not necessarily making sense in the context of the whole movie.
You will be just as surpised as I when you read this:
Alien vs Predator Domestic Total as of Oct. 5, 2004: $79,690,462, Worldwide total $101,614,954
They've already gone into profit territory on this and in fact it's being called a success: The studio also saw success this year with Regency's "Man on Fire" and "Alien vs. Predator."
So stop all the hate and learn the facts.
...unfortunately no one can be told what The Mat^H^H^HGoatse is...they must experience it for themselves...
A Doom movie already? When's the Zork movie they've been talking about since the 980s coming out?
They are commanded by a hardbitten veteran sergeant for who this is a reward, a few easy years at a top post before his retirement. He does not a chip on his shoulder about anything. New is the officer but he is smart, knows his stuff, knows to use his NCO's and that sometimes orders are there to be disobeyed. None of his family had been killed by anyone and he is single.
In the first ten minutes we learn a little about how nice and stable they all are and see a bit of the base. Perhaps get a few hints about some Big Fucking Gun being developed and meet the system administrator, a nice tomboy girl with no hangups and also single. She and the officer take an instant "dis"like to each other and trade funny one liners.
Remember this takes about ten minutes. During the opening credits. Then the movie starts and hell breaks loose as the research goes wrong.
From then on we don't got any lines longer then two sentences. The "story" is basically the sergeant and the officer trying to get their team together (spread out across the base during the incident) with the help of the system admin (que banter and very light love interest) and then beat back the demons with the help of the tech gadgets hinted at during the intro with of course the final mission to collect the BFG and kill the boss demon.
After the first suprise no-one gets killed needlessly, everyone does their job with perhaps just a few civilians being funnily slaughtered because they do the stupid thing. None of the marines panick or betray the team or any of the hollywood crap. The team doesn't get smaller and smaller but gets bigger as the group gathers members.
In short? Band of Brothers Meets Alien. That is the Real men acting like real men in a future world with really nasty monsters and big explosions.
Avoid all the "incompetent officer" "hardbitten marine with broken home" "backstabbing civilian" "scream queen love interest" "slowly people getting killed off in incredibly stupid ways" and you won't need a "great story", the audience will be too relieved with your originality to care.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Wow, maybe in the movie we'll finally learn the secret about who set up all those "monster closets" with touchplate sensors scattered liberally about the mars base. That's the one loose end in the intricate web-like Doom plot that hasn't been tied...
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
... make sure the mythology is correct?
C'mon. This is DOOM we're talking about here, not Tolkien's LotR. The mythology amounts to, "Space station on Mars is invaded by demons through a portal to hell; space marine saves the day."
So, what are they going to do? Have him bleeding to death, half an arm severed off, and then he finds a medical box with a magic saringe with which he re-grows an arm and heals all his wounds?
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
When was the last time they released a product that wasn't amazing? This is one of my favorite software companies and I doubt they will let a movie that is less than good out. From commander keen to doom iii, ID has never failed to deliver.
...that movies based on video games suck 100% of the time? I'm being completely serious here. Name one movie based on a video game that didn't suck. Just one. I dare you.
Un-news
... A Duke Nukem movie would kick some serious butt.
No need to invent a protagonist, and plenty of dick jokes, witty catchphrases, nudity and violence too. What more could you ask for in a game/film crossover?
This should be an _interesting_ movie to see, given the total lack of plot in the games and the cast they're able to assemble!
... and I want to see John take some serious revenge for Hellspawn killing your pet bunny. :)
Commander Keen gets the green light.
Slashdot = -1 Redundant, Asperger, kdawson FUD, Libertarian, and Linux
who work/worked at id have been named John.
Examples:
John Carmack
John Cash
John Romero
Slashdot = -1 Redundant, Asperger, kdawson FUD, Libertarian, and Linux
I could see a movie from a game with a decent plot:
* Fallout the movie
* Homeworld
* Max Payne (ok... it's a spoof on movies, so spoof the spoof)
But... Doom? Three possibly worse movies:
* Space Invaders the motion picture.
* Star Control
* Super Mario... oh wait...
Even wolfenstien would be better than doom... I need a medkit.
-- $G
it is odd that he rushes to admit the original game had no character development. i disagree. the main character is the player, aka, you. everyone can remember the first time they played doom, and the impact it had on them. it probably had a more significant aspect if you played it when it was first downloadable via BBS, when no one had ever seen anything like it before.
the isolation and fear that develop inside the players head during the game could be considered a time of character development, albeit on a diet!
i would think a movie adaptation of doom could conceivably focus less on monsters and action and more on the isolation of being a lone marine on mars surrounded by hidden evil things that are hunting you. i'm thinking of films like Cube, The Quiet Earth, Solaris, 2001 (Dave Bowman's isolation), Castaway (seriously!), etc.
but it sounds like it'll be another cliche action film based on the interview.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
If this turns out to be anything like the comic book, I'd be worried. Very worried.
Spam is the essence of evil.
...the 'disposable' characters should all be called "Player" and would get 0wned as soon as each firefight commenced. The main actors would then unanimously chime in with "omfg n00b!! r00fles!!!". I wonder... to be truly like the game, should there be characters that shoot themselves in the arse with their own rockets?
Technically, Duke Nukem just stole a lot of the 'tude and lines from AOD.
AOD: 1993.
DN3D: 1996.
Does that give Duke Nukem 3-D a "-1, Redundant"?
"We have to go forth and crush every world view that doesn't believe in tolerance and free speech." - David Brin
"Demons killed his favorite parents...
"Big mistake."
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PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
C'mon, who has not seen the Evil Dead series movies? They were fantastic. I am sure somewhere I read that the original games were influenced by these movies. In the second film Ash loses his hand, the the third film is the trademark Remington shotgun and chainsaw combination. Got to be one of my fave B series horror flicks! check out http://www.houseofhorrors.com/evildead2.htm and http://www.houseofhorrors.com/aod/pages/armyof.htm
It even has the chainsaw on the cover!
"Shop smart, shop S-Mart!" heh
Go Ash!