THQ confirms Saints Row film

LOS ANGELES--THQ may not have had an in-person media blowout in the vein of Ubisoft or Electronic Arts, but the publisher still offered up a host of game-related announcements as part of a 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo conference call.

The Saints Row franchise is often cited by THQ executives as a key business pillar, and the publisher said today that it plans to spare no expense for the launch of Saints Row 3. According to THQ executive vice president of core games Danny Bilson, the publisher plans to begin ramping up marketing for the title in December, having spent an extra year rebuilding the technology behind the game.

What's more, the publisher is aiming to accompany the game's launch with the "biggest transmedia blowout ever seen." Whereas many publishers stop at action figures, novels, and comic books, THQ is aiming to launch a Saints Row film day and date with the game, and Bilson noted that a "major filmmaker" is tied to its release. In February 2009, rapper 50 Cent told reporters that he was in the process of optioning the rights to Saints Row, for a filmic adaptation.

Bilson went on to note that the Saints Row game will be accompanied by a collectible card game.

In other transmedia news, Bilson offered new details on the Red Faction telefilm, which TV network SyFy announced that it would be producing in April. The two-hour "pilot" will air on SyFy the same week as the as-yet-undated Red Faction Armageddon, filling in the 50-year time lapse with information on the main character's parents. The story was penned by Bilson, with a writer currently adapting it for the screen, and the executive also noted that it will feature a budget on par with SyFy's acclaimed Battlestar Galactica.

As one other tidbit, Bilson also briefly addressed Devil's Third, the first game from Tomonobu Itagaki's Viking Studios, which will be published by THQ. According to the executive, THQ plans to announce "another major talent" that has signed with the publisher "very soon." The talent acquisition, Bilson noted, is part of THQ's strategy to lure top game developers, as opposed to purchasing independent studios outright.