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Aug 23, 2011

Ready The Dramamine - Affleck To Helm First Person Shooter Film

We're big Ben Affleck fans in my house.  Yes he's been at the forefront of plenty of mediocre action movies over the years, not to mention all of the tabloid nonsense he's generated through his various Jennifer-based relationships.  However, he's really stepped up his game of late and proven himself to be a more than competent director.  Plus the guy is damn funny when he wants to be.

Affleck is just starting production on Argo, his next directorial effort that's based on a true story about a CIA squadron that poses as Hollywood filmmakers in order to liberate a group of American hostages in Iran.  Then again, it's never too early to start your next project and it looks like Affleck has his.  According to the Hollywood ReporterLine Of Sight is the story of "an elite commando squad transporting cargo while dealing with a global threat," which, I know, sounds fairly non-specific.  But who needs a detailed story pitch when you've got a ridiculous gimmick to back it up?

The story, developed by Alex Heineman, will be told entirely from a first person perspective, ala video games like HALO or Call Of Duty.  This particular cinematic device is not without precedent, most notably used in projects like Cloverfield or the big screen adaptation of Doom, which employed a vaguely effective first person shooter sequence in the middle of the movie.  Peter O'Brien recently did a pass on the script, which is probably a good thing as O'Brien wrote the story for the Xbox game HALO: Reach.

Affleck plans to direct, produce and star in the movie, so you've gotta give the guy credit for not resting on his laurels and for pushing the envelope a bit.  The Town proved that Affleck is certainly capable of handling action and if he can assemble an impressive enough cast (something tells me this won't be a problem) then this flick could easily transcend its novelty roots.  It'll probably be a while before this sucker actually starts moving with any sort of momentum, but you can consider me officially curious.

1 comment:

  1. Does "star in" mean it'll be his POV and so we'll only hear his voice? Or that he'll be the main person the shooter (and thus, us) sees?

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