Metro 2033 Film Adaptation Halted

AlphaAtlas

AlphaAtlas

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VG247 reports that production on the Metro 2033 film has halted, and that things weren't exactly going well before. According to the report, MGM acquired the rights to an adaptation of the novel in 2012. But unlike the game, MGM wanted to "Americanise" the script, transplanting the story from Moscow to Washington D.C. to (supposedly) give it a broader appeal, and the scriptwriter ran into trouble working it out. Dmitry Glukhovsky, the author of the original novel, said "A lot of things didn't work out in Washington DC," and that "they turned it into a very generic thing." The adaptation rights have defaulted back to the author, and he's currently "speaking with a new set of producers about a possible adaptation but this is a very long and difficult process."

"They're kind of afraid of setting it in Moscow because Americans have a reputation for liking stories about America. Again, with Metro Last Light and Metro 2033 - the books and the games - selling millions and millions of copies worldwide, it's probably not as improbable now that people would accept a story happening in Moscow because that's going to be the unique selling point. We've seen the American version of apocalypse a lot of times and the audience that like the genre are educated and saturated and not really wishing to get anymore of that." Metro Exodus, the next video game in the series, is set for release on February 22.
 
sirmonkey1985 said:
good i'm glad MGM's plan failed, Americanizing that story would ruin it.
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Yep, just like Hollywood was going to Americanize Space Battleship Yamato into a live action film that would have used the Arizona. :rolleyes::eek: Sometimes, they just do not get it. (Star Blazers was sort of Americanized but, it was still Space Battleship Yamato at its core, with the ship intact.)
 
I mentioned in the thread I created that AlphaAtlas ninja'd that I think it's ironic MGM is saying generally that Americans like movies about America when the most successful property under their purview in America is James Bond.
 
Having been in both subway systems I can say for certain the Moscow Metro, aptly named the people's museum, is a thing of beauty, especially when compared to the blandness of the DC system. Every station of the Moscow system has a different feel that just doesn't exist in other places. The inner ring stations stand out even more so. Seeing Metro 2033 brought to life as it was imagined by the author would be reason enough to see the film.
 
ManofGod said:
Yep, just like Hollywood was going to Americanize Space Battleship Yamato into a live action film that would have used the Arizona. :rolleyes::eek: Sometimes, they just do not get it. (Star Blazers was sort of Americanized but, it was still Space Battleship Yamato at its core, with the ship intact.)
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i can completely get having all the characters speaking english instead of russian because yeah most americans hate reading subtitles but to completely change everything that makes a story what it is, is a disgrace. hell if anything setting it in a post apocalyptic moscow would sell even better in the US now given the media driven hatred for russia right now..
 
Odd. Wasn't too many years ago that movie makers were switching settings to places like Vancouver and Toronto to avoid the far too familiar, at least to Americans, scenery of LA, NYC and DC.
 
It wouldn't be Metro 2033 if it takes place some place other than Moscow. If the story is so compelling, worth investing millions in etc. Why in the hell would one then want to change it? What would happen is the true story is then locked up and will never be presented as it should be but some half wit, made up story with only the name being the same. It should be 100% or very close be shot in Russia is my opinion and I would say it would show that Russians and all people struggle the same in that type of scenario. It would not be promoting any sort of ideology other than how to survive the worst nightmare ever seen.
 
Good god, I'm glad someone stopped them from doing something so stupid. I don't care about the political environment, just make the movie based on the games. If this means Moscow then Moscow it is. I wanna hear Russian accents and Russian this and Russian that. If you wanna make a Metro in Washington DC then make a Fallout movie cause guess what Fallout is? Yep, Fallout is basically Metro in America, or is Metro a Fallout in Russia?
 
Saving Private Ryan took place outside of the USA...


Not sure why Americanizing it would be so difficult, set it in Brazil, Canada, Venezuela etc. There's lots of countries in America.
 
It needs to have "a broader appeal" just like what Netflix did to the Death Note adaptation which sits at 3.2 on Metacritic and 24% on Rotten Tomatoes
 
Dragon Ball was Americanized. They turned Goku into a damn high school teenager. In the manga/anime, I don't think it ever implied Goku ever went to school at all. Give a broader appeal my ass. A broader appeal only to us Americans. A total disrespect toward other cultures. Give any source material the hollywood treatment, and it is risked being turned into generic shit. Remeber Ghost in a Shell? Most of the Japanese characters were reduced to support roles.
I too am sick of seeing apocalyptic events set in America. Change the locale for crap sake.
 
So, in the end we might be spared another crappy movie based on a computer game. Smells like a win :)
 
Here's hoping the American Akira stays dead with this too.

Enough with the re-interpretations already.
 
It isn't much of a "set in America' problem, but rather Hollywood takes source material and changes the whole feel & theme of it. But yes, it certainly should be set in Moscow. Plenty of Americans will watch a film set in Moscow. I don't think New York City or any other American city will necessary increase sales. Plenty of American made movies that are not set in the US. And to me, a metro/subway system is foreign so it doesn't make a difference either way. NYC is so damn foreign it may as well be Moscow in my eyes.

But yeah, that Ghost in the Shell movie. They ripped out the whole theme and feel of it. Their rewritting added nothing of value and just made it feel more generic. They went for the feels at the end. Such a dull movie.
 
blandead said:
They will definitely ruin it one day
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Only if we are dumb enough to watch it. The novels will live on in my memory, long after Hollywood destroys the franchise, or EA buys out 4A and does what EA does to top tier devs and game franchises.
 
Hollywood's cluelessness continues to astound. It's almost like they have no idea what made the original properties they try to adapt successful in the first place.
 
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