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Doom Movie Update

WeAz writes "Dark Horizons has an update on the currently filming Doom Movie. The article sums up the history of the production thus far and also includes a cool tidbit that reveals 'a large number of sequences will be shot purely in "first-person" perspective of the leading character (Karl Urban).' Unfortunately, the article also reports that 'The monsters aren't from hell, but rather people mutated by some nasty super-virus although the monsters look very similar to those in the game.' Sounds like a version of 28 Days Later based on Mars to me."

38 of 454 comments (clear)

  1. *rubs hands together* by lordsilence · · Score: 5, Funny

    Look at the possibilities. They can save lots of money without having actors on screen. But... we can take it further! If they just put this in a really dark setting or envoirment.. We'll simply pretend there's lots of pretty monsters and scenery everywhere.

    1. Re:*rubs hands together* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hell, let's just record a Doom 3 demo and skin the doom guy's face to look like Karl Urban. Same thing, but with a Wendy's-super-value-menu budget.

    2. Re:*rubs hands together* by buffer-overflowed · · Score: 5, Funny

      Ahh Doom 3 the movie... I can see it now.

      Tagline: "In a world... without light... without adhesives... a hero shall arise, armed with a flashlight and heavy weaponry, but no method to combine the two."

      Ugh... I spent the entire game wishing for duct tape so I could fuckin' tape my flashlight to the bottom of my rifle. Apparently everyone decided, probably by committee, that things like night-vision and underbarrel flashlights were passe sometime in the 22nd century.

      --
      The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
    3. Re:*rubs hands together* by the+unbeliever · · Score: 4, Informative

      ever download Duct Tape?

      Just thought I'd letcha know in case you didn't. ;p

  2. On Mars by Vokbain · · Score: 5, Informative

    I read yesterday somewhere that the movie doesn't take place on Mars anymore either. It supposedly happens on some planet or base somewhere else in the galaxy or something. =[

    1. Re:On Mars by EpsCylonB · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, according to bluesnews its just a regular old military scientific complex somewhere on earth.

      It's fairly obvious that whoever put up the money wants the film to have the widest possible appeal in america, and that means they don't want to risk offending middle america with the kind of religous imagery used in the games.

      It might still turn out to be a decent film, it won't be Doom though.

    2. Re:On Mars by spectre_240sx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Personally, I have very little interest in this as a "doom" movie. If it doesn't have to do with devils and other creatures from hell then it's NOT DOOM!

    3. Re:On Mars by Goosey · · Score: 5, Funny

      It might still turn out to be a decent film, it won't be Doom though.

      I suppose we were all naive at one point in our lives. Your point is right now, friend.

      --
      --- "End Of Line" - MCP
    4. Re:On Mars by arose · · Score: 5, Funny

      The epic story of Doom paired with the higly original setting of a secret military-scientifix complex on earth. That has to be a hit.

      --
      Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
    5. Re:On Mars by kubrick · · Score: 5, Funny

      You forgot "mixed with all of the intelligence and wit that Hollywood can bring to the project."

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    6. Re:On Mars by Pxtl · · Score: 5, Informative

      Lets see:

      a) not set on mars
      b) aliens infected with super virus, not demons
      c) not about "space marines" but more SWAT team members.
      d) character named "Pinky" in cybernetic wheelchair.
      e) BFG is "Bio Force Gun".

      so, this movie has what to do with DOOM exactly? 1st person perspective? Wow, because there aren't other games with that perspective.

    7. Re:On Mars by DerWulf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't think its political at all. I think its just a cheap production. Look, now they say: well, they are not from hell but mutated by a virus. Before release it'll be: 'look, did we say monsters? We meant zombies that look like normal people with an attitute'. The Inq has an article about it, they say the movie isn't gonna take place on mars and the space marines will be swat guys. So, essentially it's going to be 'Resident evil vs. SWAT' - the Movie and cost 5 bucks for the 8mm film because the props are all donated.

      --

      ___
      No power in the 'verse can stop me
    8. Re:On Mars by KanSer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, thank you very much for giving us Resident Evil In Space instead of what could have been a good movie.

      Fuck hollywood sucks.

      --
      • MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward Wednesday April 20, @4:20
    9. Re:On Mars by CanadianCrackPot · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's called Half-Life...

      --
      Good programmers drink beer to relieve job stress.
      Great programmers drink hard liquor and work best hungover.
    10. Re:On Mars by Skrybe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly! Why bother paying for the license when they're not really making use of it? It could be any one of a dozen cookie cutter sci-fi/action movies. If they don't keep the core (demons from hell invading Mars) then it just ain't Doom.

      I'd assume the marketing suits figure all the "geeks" will want to go and see it because of the name alone. Be interesting to see if they change it too much whether it'll have the opposite effect and all the Doom fans will boycott the movie...

  3. Bring a barf bag... by IO+ERROR · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...not because the movie will be bad, but because the first-person perspective is likely to upset your inner ear balance and cause you to feel queasy. Think Blair Witch Project.

    --
    How am I supposed to fit a pithy, relevant quote into 120 characters?
    1. Re:Bring a barf bag... by Brandon30X · · Score: 5, Funny

      But dont get me wrong, it will be bad.

      --
      Quitters never win, Winners never quit, But those who never win and never quit are idiots.
    2. Re:Bring a barf bag... by Hatta · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...not because the movie will be bad, but because the first-person perspective is likely to upset your inner ear balance and cause you to feel queasy. Think Blair Witch Project.

      That's ok, just make sure you set pm_walkbob "0" in the console.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  4. Good news, or bad news first? by sH4RD · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The first person view sounds cool, could inspire a new film technique (much like the Matrix's bullet time), but the old fashoned film technique of messing with a well-loved plot seems to be going strong.

    --
    WASTE - The Secure P2P
  5. No hell? by Eric(b0mb)Dennis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why the choice not to have the monsters we know and love from HELL, not another MSV (Mutated Super Virus).

    Are people afraid to mention the word HELL anymore? Jesus christ, Jesusland is taking over!

    --
    Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
  6. Mars-set zombie flick by sonicattack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sounds like a version of 28 Days Later based on Mars to me."

    It's already done, and called "Ghosts of Mars".

    And it came the year before "28 days later".

  7. Bio Force Gun?? by desau · · Score: 4, Funny

    I always thought 'BFG'[9000] was an acronym for something else ......

    1. Re:Bio Force Gun?? by NarrMaster · · Score: 5, Funny

      You don't say? Once again, I salute you, Captain Obvious!

      (Dear mods: modding up those who respond to jokes in the above manner is pretty lame.)

      --
      That's right. All your base.
  8. Not another virus! by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The virus plotline is so played out these days. I don't understand why Hollywood feels the need to change an element like monsters coming from Hell to monsters being mutated by a virus. Has Hell somehow become taboo? For the Dawn of the Dead remake, I was worried that they would change the whole zombies from hell concept because the original tagline was "When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." Fortunately, they left it intact. It's disappointing that a game so based off of demons from Hell is being changed over into the old virus mutation thing. It's already so overused.

    --
    Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
  9. What plot? by Goonie · · Score: 5, Funny
    but the old fashoned film technique of messing with a well-loved plot seems to be going strong.

    Um, we're talking about Doom, right? What plot? From what I can recall the plot went something like "Demons. Bad. Kill them all."...

    --

    Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
    --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
    1. Re:What plot? by EpsCylonB · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The first Doom was great, unlike its third incarnation there was a lot of variation in the levels. One level might be totally enclosed whilst the next offers you views of the martian landscape.

      Admittedly after the basic set up of being on mars in a base after a gateway to hell has opened, the plot is fairly thin from there on. Which makes it even more amazing that the makers of this film have done away with pretty much the only plot elements Doom has.

    2. Re:What plot? by spectre_240sx · · Score: 4, Funny

      Intecepted call, someplace in hollywood:

      "Boss, some guy on Slashdot just came up with the idea for 3 new movies. Trust me on this, these are going to make us rich!"

    3. Re:What plot? by Coryoth · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Um, we're talking about Doom, right? What plot? From what I can recall the plot went something like "Demons. Bad. Kill them all."...

      That's where the original game started, but if you read the intro text, and the text and the various ends of stages you would have realised there was plot. That plot was further expanded upon in Doom3.

      Let's be realistic here, you could easily take the plot that you discover on PDAs and from talking to people in Doom3 and create a film where only the final third of the film has anyone running around killing demons. Think about it:

      We can start with the marine arriving on base and hearing the rumpours about weird things and the "dig site", spend plenty of time slowly revealing the teleporters, and the fact that there seems to be something/someplace in between leaving one teleporter and arriving at another. Add to that lots of creepy moments wandering around the base hearing voices occasionally, and incidents with marines and workers (ie teleporter test subjects) going insane, and attacking people etc. and you could easily fill and hour with nary a hell gate opened. That leaves you a nice 30 minutes of of hectic "demons everywhere" conclusion.

      Doom could be made into a very good film. It won't be made into a very good film, but that's hardly the game's fault.

      Jedidiah.

  10. Why bother? by FiReaNGeL · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It isn't on Mars.
    Monsters aren't from Hell.
    SWAT instead of space marines.
    Super-virus?

    Can you REALLY call this DOOM? Why do they bother? Doom fans are gonna be angry, and for the rest, the movie could have been called Resident Evil IIV : It gets crappier anyway.

  11. Things to do by cubicledrone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    For any Hollywood executive:

    1) Acquire creative control
    2) Change everything except the name
    3) Profit!

    Hollywood, like all business, is only interested in brands, not products. Therefore it is only the title that matters, not the plot.
    Happens with nearly every adaptation of any existing book/comic book/game into a movie.

    Creative people should have creative control. Irrefutable example of success: The Incredibles

    Business people should not have creative control. Irrefutable example of total failure: Lion King 1 1/2

    --
    Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    1. Re:Things to do by Coryoth · · Score: 4, Informative

      Creative people should have creative control. Irrefutable example of success: The Incredibles

      Business people should not have creative control. Irrefutable example of total failure: Lion King 1 1/2


      Except you get odd cases like Fight Club. The fact is that, relatively speaking, Fight Club bombed at the US box office. That meant that Brad Pitt got told he was only to take safe roles from here on in, and David Fincher was told no one was going to bank roll him for any creative projects anymore - that's why we got Panic Room.

      Of course, in the end, Fight Club has become a huge cult success and is probably raking in money n DVD sales. It took a while to find its market.

      It is for that reason, however, that the business people get to make their demands: even great creative projects don't make the initial cash that the business people bank rolling the project desire.

      Jedidiah.

    2. Re:Things to do by Queer+Boy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I totally disagree. Fight Club was MARKETED out of the theatre. They marketed the movie as a completely different idea than what the movie was actually about. None of the previews actually tell you anything about the movie except that there's a fight club and you don't talk about it. That is NOT what the movie was about.

      --
      Not since Marie-Antoinette played milkmaid has looking simple and honest been so fake and complicated.
  12. The "Religious Right" can't win can they? by Katravax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    To the other posts blaming this on the "Religious Right:" If they talk about Hell, you complain. If someone else REMOVES the word "Hell", you complain. Which is it? They're talking about Hell too much, or not enough?

    Besides, the "Religous Right" is a myth. They're religious alright, but they're not Christian, and they're not conservative. They would do good to read what the Bible has to say about religion.

  13. Re:$70 million film? by PedanticSpellingTrol · · Score: 5, Funny

    They are doing the whole thing in-game, the $70 million is for the GFX card.

  14. How to screw up a game-movie 101 by crazyphilman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "The monsters aren't from hell, but rather people mutated by some nasty super-virus although the monsters look very similar to those in the game" Oh, and it's not on Mars anymore.

    Ok, show of hands: who here is sick and tired of directors or producers who want to do a movie based on a game, but who can't get around their personal preferences and start making major changes to the story? Take this "they're not from Hell" and "it's not on mars" thing.

    Whoever made the change is probably thinking "Oh, I don't like religion, and I don't believe in Hell, so let's come up with a pseudo-scientific premise instead... Viruses seem to be pretty popular lately, and 28 Days Later was a big hit... It'll be easier to convince the money people if we're copying a successful franchise... Let's do a virus. Hell is so passe..."

    And he's probably thinking "Mars? There is nothing on mars but red dirt. And it isn't sexy enough. Let's make it a planet far, far away. And let's make the Pinky demon a loveable character so people will be conflicted when it attacks! Yes, that will be interesting."

    And as far as the armor goes, well, they're probably just being cheap. It's easier to Ebay for used SWAT team armor than to build realistic DOOM armor, isn't it? Course it is. And all movie directors/producers "know" that we're all too stupid to know the difference, anyway. Bastards...

    If I could get a few of these boors into a tiny, windowless room and apply a cluebat to them, I would simply say that if you're going to adapt a game, KEEP THE FUCKING STORY. Keep the characters and technology. KEEP THE LOOK OF THE ENVIRONMENT. Keep the main idea intact. You don't have to make the movie a shot-by-shot copy of the game, but for Christ's sake, don't change everything! Tone down the ego, boys, and up the humility.

    Not like there's any chance of that. VIdeo-game movies are going to continue to suck forever more because of the immense egos of the people with enough power and money to produce/direct. There's no help for it.

    We're better off just playing the games themselves, and letting the movies die out from disappointing box office returns.

    NOTE, and COUNTEREXAMPLE: I thought Alien Vs. Predator wasn't bad, because they staged the movie in "the past" (still our future), predating all the games and other movies, and adding in some tasty backstory (how Weyland-Yutani got started, why they're so interested in aliens and predators, etc). So obviously SOME people can get it right.

    That movie's only problem was insufficient Predator-Alien whoop-ass. Maybe they had a shortage (only a few cans got delivered?).

    --
    Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
  15. Wake me up by Ann+Coulter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When they make something on par with Alien, Aliens, or Event Horizon. Aliens was part of what Doom was based on. In fact, Doom originally used an Aliens license.

    The next time I go to a horror or horror action film, I want to be deeply disturbed. The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre did that for me. Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection both missed it entirely (even though Resurrection did have some xenoeroticism, hehe). We need more original horror films.

    Hell and body mutilation tend to be pretty good ways to disturb me. Event Horizon had both. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre had both. Aliens a Hellish evironment plus body mutilation. Alien had the latter.

    If Doom the movie has people being cut open, internal organs spread out on the operating table, hung by hooks, and surrounded by Satanic symbols, I might watch it. If Doom has wall textures that look like spinal cords, sewn skin, pipes of blood, behemoth demon brains, and decorations based on tortured human bodies, I might watch it. But if it is just another zombie film with the good guys being chased by zombies for the rest of the film, I'll just make my own film to disturb.

    In conclusion, H. R. Giger (the man who designed the artwork for Alien) should design the atmosphere for Doom the movie.

  16. You don't want more of this? by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 4, Insightful
    THEN DON'T GO SEE IT!

    Don't rent it, either. Wait until it's can be seen someplace where your viewing of it does no contribute any extra to it's coffers. Encourage others to give it a miss.

    I lost track long ago of the number of times I have heard people say, "It's going to suck! I *have* to see it!" And then the same people wonder wny most movies blow white hot chunks.

    If you must have the needs and character of a three year old, at least have some patience (is it *that* emotionally difficult to avoid seeing a suckfest?) and view it in a way that does not encourage Hollywood to make any more.

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  17. Place your bets now by Nine+Tenths+of+The+W · · Score: 4, Funny

    Which of these forthcoming game adaptations is going to be the worst:
    Doom
    Duke Nukem
    Dungeons and Dragons 2
    Vampire:The Masquerade

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