Upstart Hollywood-focused developer finds big-time funds for big-time adaptations; 300, Saw in the works.
As reported in March, Legendary Pictures CEO Thomas Tull was shoring up $150 million in financing for a new independent video game studio, Brash Entertainment. Specializing in games "that will be licensed with major movie, book, and music titles," the fledgling company reportedly had six projects on its slate.
It would appear those numbers were a bit off. Brash today announced that it has acquired $400 million in funding to bring to the interactive medium properties based on movies, television, and music. Funding for the developer comes by way of media-focused private investment firm Abry Partners. The recently formed studio reportedly has 12 projects in the pipe, with 40 licenses from five major film studios also in its portfolio. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has signed as the company's worldwide distributor.
Shirking the Activision/THQ model of big-business film-to-video game tie-ins, Brash will be collaborating solely with independent studios. As Brash cofounder Mitch Davis puts it, this is so the company can be "laser focused on creating high-quality games...the other aspects of our business are left to the experts--best-of-breed partners we've tapped for their specific expertise."
There's been much speculation of a PC/console adaptation of 300, given that Tull's Legendary Pictures made the movie in the first place. In lieu of official word of the title's existence, Variety is citing sources that confirm 300 is in development. No other details on the game emerged, but Brash brass have stated that the company will be developing for all major consoles, handhelds, and mobile devices. However, Brash did note that development had begun on Lionsgate's gross-out horror flick Saw, as well as on upcoming children's animated films and "action-packed thrillers."
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
I'm going to keep an open mind about the Saw game. It would probably work best as an adventure game or a survival horror (sort of along the lines of Indigo Prophecy). I love the Saw movies and I'm going to be looking foward to seeing what the developers decide to do with this.
saw could make a nice survival horror game. maybe. but 300 i can't imagine as anything, maybe some strategy, who knows.
300 March to Glory was good simply because of the 300 name. If they add good gameplay to it, it will be awesome. And a Saw puzzle game would rock!
300 the game should be good if its done differently from most movie based games and doesn't always follow the story and be completely linear based and predictable
"ScottyT I like all the comments from people stating how this is going to suck or thats going to suck. Well now if you were so good at specs and stats you would have a job witha company figuring out what sucks and what doesnt. swing and a miss noobs" I'm not one for prejudice of games, but have you ever played a movie based game? ever? there are only a hand full of good ones: Goldeneye, LOTR, and spiderman. They almost always suck so its usually safe to say movie license games suck.
Why o why do these movie companies make the same mistakes over and over again? It's a 100% unexperienced company, right? Well, why the hell give them the task of making games based upon great licenses? This is exactly why a lot of these games will become anything but great! I totally hate it, they should hire a really good team like Remedy, iD Software or Raven software for movie adaptations if they want to turn their licenses into gold.
Hey, why do they always use that same shot from "Brewster's Millions" whenever they write an article about money? I mean, Richard Pryor made plenty of other movies? How about a frame from "Superman 3"?
I could see a 300 game with elements of God of War combined with Dynasty Warriors. It won't be good, but I see it.
I always had that idea. Interesting that someone finally decided to make a move on it. It's big money.
I really hope this guy means what he says. So much great Intellectual Property, i.e., any superhero, milestone movies, gets tragically treated into videogames. I understand licenses are expensive and take up a large portion of development costs, but hell, I'm surpirsed creators allow this to happen so often to their creations.
300 will be tight SAW man i got 2 words JACK thompson. Just more reason for that moron to hate on the gaming industry.
If they can turn Dirty Dancing into a game then making one out of Saw should be an absolute doddle.
certain scripts written are only meant for what they originally were wrote for, weather they were for a movie, games, book or comics. Most stories usually don't work out too well if they cross platforms. You can't expect a movie script to be in a video game because frankly the movie you don't interact with. So this idea goes for all of the above i stated. These guys have a goal, but I doubt it's going to make a difference. They need to think about working on new titles instead of what already exsists. There is no creativity there when you work with an idea that has already been done.
I like all the comments from people stating how this is going to suck or thats going to suck. Well now if you were so good at specs and stats you would have a job witha company figuring out what sucks and what doesnt. swing and a miss noobs
But nemes1s3000, when ever have devs thought long and hard on movie tie in games. This is terrible. And its the consumers fault. Sigh i own the Spiderman 3 game. those $400 million are better off spent making new games not based on existing media. This is terrible news
Lets hope the 300 game isn't as bad as it looks. They have previews for it on some new DVD's and the best i can describe it is Dynasty Warriors with even worse graphics. I think i will stick with God of War: Chains of Olympus thank you very much...
Saw would actually be a good idea for a video game if the developers make it a smart and cunning one, they really have to think long and hard about this particular project.
The only way a Saw videogame could be any good is if it has absolutely nothing to do with the movies in any way, shape, or form.
saw the video game? please no. i love Saw movies and i love videogames. but not together. please. Me 2 and unfortuantly saw is being made into a game. And it's probably going to suck because it's based on a movie. But the godfather and scarface weren't as bad as the rest of the movie based games
great they just got 400 million to make a bunch of games that will probably end up being garbage, honestly a saw video game this is gonna suck
saw the video game? please no. i love Saw movies and i love videogames. but not together. please.
I have a feeling that brash will bring on a revolutionary change in the complex and gripping nature of the beat-'em-up genre.
A Saw game could be either good or bad, there is no gray area. Sega came close to a Saw feel with Condemned. It would be funny if they accidentally mixed up their children game with the Saw game. Talk about future therapy.
Unless they have more freedom with the creative license, this is going to develop horrible games. A Saw game, who needs that anyway? A 300 game would prove a little daunting to make it different and awesome. Oh well, its their money.
400million for games is pretty ridiculous. if they have many games being made it makes sense and i doubt that 300 is hogging all those funds especially since its a psp game
I don't think this would be good... There's so much restriction on how creative you can be with a game that's based on a movie. I haven't bought any games based on a movie and actually enjoyed them. How the heck are they going to make video games from music anyway? Surely 50 Cents' game was evidence enough that they're no good.
Video games based on movies usually turn a profit, but rarely is it very large. It's just a dependable way to make a bit of money. At $400 million for 6 games, they will either have to break the trend and actually make good movie games (though picking a slasher film is not a very good start at this) or this will be a terrible business move.
I will most likely not buy there games unless some interesting titles come out like transformers which suddenly got me interested in the game since it has very VERY good graphics and looks like gameplay is going to be fun.
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