Need for Speed movie inbound

Grab some popcorn and fasten your seatbelts, because EA's Need For Speed has been acquired by DreamWorks and a film has been announced, set for a 2014 release. Scott Waugh is said to be the director of the film, and it will be based on an original story developed by brothers George and John Gatins.

According to a press release, the film will be "a fast-paced, high-octane film rooted in the tradition of the great car culture films of the 70s while being extremely faithful to the spirit of the video game franchise."

Steven Spielberg, the chairman of DreamWorks, has expressed his enthusiasm for the film, saying,

I'm excited about getting back into the creative trenches with John and George Gatins and my partners at EA to bring to life an exhilarating script based on an epic video game that seems to have been made for the movies. This is a big piece of business for DreamWorks and we are grateful to Frank Gibeau, Pat O'Brien, Kevin Maher and John and George for choosing us to deliver their goods.


The track record for film adaptations of videogames is pretty shoddy, and considering that the Need for Speed franchise has never been able to pull off a decent plot, it's hard to see how this won't go down as another failure in the history of films based on videogames. Also, don't forget that Need for Speed: The Run tried to be a cinematic racing game and just wound up being a bit rubbish. I'm no cinephile, but I have the sneaking suspicion that Need for Speed: The Movie won't be the next Inception.

On the plus side, at least it isn't being directed by Uwe Boll.

Comments

  • Avatar
    roughplague
    12 years, 5 months ago

    ...isn't that just fast and furious?

  • Avatar
    OlMuttonchops
    12 years, 5 months ago

    The most important question to me is whether or not Vin Diesel will be in it. Frankly I don't see myself watching a movie centering around cars if I can't listen to his sultry voice for 90 minutes.

  • Avatar
    lemith
    12 years, 5 months ago

    Cool?

  • Avatar
    TheOttomatic91
    12 years, 5 months ago

    I have yet so see a film adaptation from a video game that doesn't suck I doubt need for speed will be a decent one will most likey rent this for 8 bucks just to see how it is.

  • Avatar
    Soha
    12 years, 5 months ago

    The title made me roll my eyes, but the "car culture films of the 70s" piqued my interest. Here's hoping for the best!

  • Avatar
    CaptainSane
    12 years, 5 months ago

    Ehh, it's got potential since there's not really much of a story in the games so the writers have a lot of room without having to worry about pissing off a dedicated fan base. If they could do something like a modern-day Cannonball Run I think it could be cool, but something in the vain of Gone in 60 Seconds might work, too. It won't be the most original movie ever but I think it could be at least entertaining.

  • Avatar
    Deus Ex: Human Revolution Film Adaptation Announce
    12 years, 4 months ago

    [...] rich game like Deus Ex: Human Revolution might make for a better film adaptation than, say, Need For Speed, there is still a key problem with adapting a game like Deus Ex: Human Revolution to the big [...]