When God of War was released in March, critics praised its cinematic quality. Indeed, in an interview with GameSpot Live (viewable below), game director David Jaffe talked about how he was influenced by epic fantasy films such as Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and cult classics like Clash of the Titans (1981). Given the game's solid sales, many speculated it was only a matter of time before God of War got behind BloodRayne, Hitman, Spy Hunter, Splinter Cell, and Metroid in the movie-adaptation queue.

Well, it looks like Kratos is ready for his close-up. Hollywood trade magazine Variety today said that Universal has picked up the rights to the PlayStation 2 action title. Charles Roven and Alex Gartner of Mosiac Media are slated to produce the film; no director or casting choices have been announced. Overseeing the project is Jeff Kirschenbaum, vice president of Universal, which is distributing the big-screen adaptation of Doom, due later this year.

Roven, who produced Batman Begins for Warner Bros., told Variety, "We've been enthralled by this project since our first time playing the game in March and realized its narrative had great potential for large-screen production." According to sources, Roven played an active role in the Batman Begins conversion from film to game, which had mixed critical and financial results.

For more on God of War, check out the GameSpot review.