If you couldn’t get enough of Campo Santo’s Firewatch earlier this year, I have good news: it’s coming to the big screen.
Hollywood Reporter has revealed this morning that Good Universe and Campo Santo have signed a deal to convert Firewatch into a feature film. The deal is broader than that and will see Campo Santo “develop content for both video games and feature films”, according to the report.
“Finding extraordinary content is incredibly exciting, and with the Campo Santo team, we felt an immediate simpatico with their utterly beguiling storytelling and amazing creative instincts,” Joe Drake, co-founder of Good Universe, said.
Good Universe was formed in 2012 and is currently working on The House (due out 2017) and Extinction. The firm also has production credits on Bad Neighbours, Don’t Breathe, The Masterpiece, Oldboy, Last Vegas and The Night Before.
The report also revealed that sales of Firewatch have nearly reached 1 million. It makes Firewatch one of a string of commercial indie hits this year, which has also seen SUPERHOT, Stardew Valley, The Witness and other titles from small studios break out.
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9 responses to “Hollywood Is Turning Firewatch Into A Movie”
Ooh torn now. I have been eyeing off FIrewatch for a while now but maybe I should see the movie first. I’ve watched maybe 30 mins/read a chunk of stuff about it so I’m pretty vague on it still.
I expect a theatrical release would expand on the backstory only alluded to at the beginning of the game, similar to how Killing Joke was adapted. One would hope the voice talent gets to feature in the movie as live actors but maybe that’s a bridge too far.
Hats off to Campo Santo though, really like the Idle Thumbs podcast so already feel a bit closer to the team.
I’m unsure about this. Sure, Firewatch I could actually see as a film, but it loses some of the spectacle that made Firewatch unique.
– First Person Perspective, and not really knowing what Henry looked like.
– The beginning choices of the game, that even though had no real effect on the gameplay, left it being a personal experience with your own choices. Made it feel like your life.
– This point can be dismissed if they keep it, but the visual effects. The artistic style of Firewatch is what made it Firewatch. Without it, it feels like a shell of it’s former self. Sure, the story is still there; but the vibrant colours of the Wyoming wilderness will be lost if it was translated into a different art style or Live-Action film.
– As traditional films go, the ending can be considered quite a bit more anti-climactic, and could leave viewers with a sour taste in their mouths in comparison to other films. This is why it’s good in the video game medium.
However, if they take all the right steps, maybe this can be pulled off; but again, it’s unnecessary.
I get this, I don’t think Hollywood is in touch with the games industry, they are different experiences and translate very differently. When The Last of Us is adapted to film it wont have the same effect as the game. In the game you are Joel and you feel an attachment to Ellie. In the movie you’d be watching Joel and feel for him, but I doubt it would be as powerful.
Sigh, as soon as video games nails a new form of narrative story telling – Hollywood swoops in. Spoiler:
Part of what makes this game so special is we don’t actually see in person any of the characters in the story including the main character. We make choices and ‘fill in the blank’ based on the main characters responses to make our own personal story. Our own ‘personal’ main character.I agree but I think if they still kept Delilah as voice-only it could work just as well. Seeing her would kill a lot of the mystery/tension during the story but seeing Henry’s family (only at the start) and Henry during the film wouldn’t hurt much I don’t think.
I’m not a fan of Hollywood adapting games to film. To me it fells like they are just riding the coattails of others work for profit (even though the developer is likely to get a large sum of money too) It also feels like games can’t be appreciated in their current form.
If there’s no Rich Sommer or Cissy Jones, I won’t be going near it.
I played it before I knew what Rich Sommer looked like and my vision of Henry surprisingly matched up with Rich. My vision of Delilah was different from Cissy, but with a voice talent as strong as hers being so pivotal to the game it wouldn’t be the same without her. And, I suppose being strict to the story,
you shouldn’t see Delilah anyway.My other big concern, as someone else mentioned, is that what I liked most about the story and the ending would not be looked upon favourably by a big studio. Audiences can get annoyed about ambiguity but
an anti climax?Yeah, that won’t float well.I’m not sure what to think. On the one hand, it’s a game that is basically a movie plot already. On the other hand, it’s a movie plot that’s been done as a game already so you’re just removing interactivity?
Will it also have a disappointing ending?
Or… Just watch a well edited let’s play of the game? Same level of interactivity as a movie.
The question that the producers really need to ask is “what is the medium of film bringing that a video game cannot?”