Liberty and the Pursuit of Financing

Most games based on movie licenses are quickie spin-offs that head straight for the discount bin. Game development house Zombie and film production house Shadowcatcher - both based in Seattle - aim to change that with Liberty, an ambitious anime-themed project that will be designed from the ground up, first as a PC game, and then as a DVD-only computer-generated movie.

The action title will be written and directed by Nick Sagan, son of the late Carl Sagan and the writer behind Activision's Zork Nemesis. As of Tuesday, Zombie founder Mark Long had also enlisted renowned visual futurist Syd Mead for the project. Mead's film credits include Blade Runner, 2010, Aliens, and Johnny Mnemonic.

In keeping with Mead's signature dystopian work, Liberty is a late-21st century vision of an overpopulated Earth that has spilled over to colonize Mars. Bloody battles result when the Martian pioneers declare independence - individual soldiers fight each other in bio-armored battle suits. The game version will be a first- and third-person shooter with strategy elements.

"We were all snowed in at Sundance and we had this debate about whether you could make a successful game out of a movie," said Long, recalling the project's origins. "I threw a challenge down to myself and said 'If you built if from the ground up, of course you could do it.'"

Long set to building the concept and signing the talent - now he just needs to sell it. Zombie is talking to MGM, Paramount, and Polygram this week, with the goal of securing financing and distribution. The game is tentatively scheduled for release late next year, while the DVD movie is scheduled for early 1999.