Gaming company Kojima Productions is launching a new division focused on film and television. The company, formed by famed game developer Hideo Kojima, began life as a subsidiary of Konami, officially launching in 2005. Games worked on by Kojima and co. in the years prior, including eleven Metal Gear Solid titles from 1996 onwards, were retroactively accredited to the group.
Kojima worked on iconic titles on the recent console generations, including 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Following the tricky cancelled production of the Silent Hills reboot, teased via cult-classic mini-demo PT in 2014, the company went independent and relaunched with 2019’s Death Stranding; a brand new game released for the PS4 starring The Walking Dead’s Norman Reedus. Death Stranding was a new lease of life for Kojima, and the more cinematic, long-form storytelling of the game gained positive reviews.
Now, according to gamesindustry.biz, Kojima is furthering its cinematic appeal by launching a film and TV division. Former PlayStation Business Affairs Vice-President Riley Russell will be heading up the project; which he says aims to work “with creative and talented professionals in television, music and film, as well as the more familiar games industry”. Going into more detail about the company’s objectives, Russell says the company aims towards “expanding the reach and awareness of the properties now under development at Kojima Productions, and to make them even more a part of our popular culture”, implying that the division may aim to adapt some of the company’s most popular franchises for the big screen. Read Russell’s full quote below:
“The new division will be tasked with working with creative and talented professionals in television, music and film, as well as the more familiar games industry […] The team has as its charter, the goal of expanding the reach and awareness of the properties now under development at Kojima Productions, and to make them even more a part of our popular culture. Although we are a global organization, the new business development team will be centred in Los Angeles, CA. We are truly excited and looking forward to working with the very best entertainment talent we can, across all of the entertainment industries."
The merging of the video game and live-action worlds hasn’t always been melodious, as many previous video-game movies have failed miserably to capture the magic. This led to the concept of the ‘video-game movie curse’ being applied to films such as Super Mario Bros, Assassin’s Creed and the original Mortal Kombat films. Still, this hasn’t deterred companies such as Sony and Ubisoft; who have movies based on Uncharted and The Division on the way, as well as the HBO TV version of The Last Of Us. Kojima himself has expressed an appreciation for the visual style of Hollywood, recently tweeting about his awe while watching the stylised editing of Fast & Furious 6 on TV.
Fans of Metal Gear Solid will be clamoring to hear more about a possible movie adaptation of the popular franchise, with its intricate lore and story having huge potential for a live-action adaptation. There may also be a chance for Kojima’s cancelled Silent Hill reboot to find a second chance as a movie, as it was originally set to feature Death Stranding’s Reedus as the main character. The future holds many possibilities for Kojima Productions as it begins to branch out into a whole new medium on the big screen.
Source: gamesindustry.biz
