Saints Row movie in development with MIB: International director onboard

Just in case you think there aren’t enough video game movies being made, a Saints Row film is being developed by director F. Gary Gray (Men In Black: International, Straight Outta Compton, Fate of the Furious). The script is being penned by champion multi-tasker Greg Russo, who is also busy working on reboots of Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil. Production will be handled by Koch Media, owned by game company THQ Nordic — the latter owns Saints Row’s developer, Volition. No news on who might star as Johnny Gat, though it would be a total waste not to cast Gat’s original voice actor, Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, the recent Hellboy reboot).

The Saints Row series has always been somewhat of an oddball in terms of crime-ridden open-world action games, giving us everything from sex dolls to sci-fi alien battles. The whole franchise has always been a bit of a pop culture parody, and it owns that image well — one of its offshoots was an expansion pack called Gat Out of Hell. The player is part of the Third Street Saints, a powerful street gang who has to battle rival gangs for more turf. The series started out as a pretty straightforward copy of Grand Theft Auto, but over time, found its own footing as a ridiculously fun, tongue-in-cheek experience. Everything about the games is over-the-top, which makes for an excellent adventure film, provided it’s done right. If the source material is goofy, run with it a la the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer. The worst they could do to Saints Row is to make it a moody, broody action thriller that takes itself too seriously.

In terms of establishing a new film franchise, Saints Row has a veritable universe of possibilities, as it opens up potential Red Faction and Agents of Mayhem spinoff movies. At this point, we might as well expect a Grand Theft Auto flick, too.

alexisong@asiaone.com