Pitt Enters ‘Dark Void’ of Video Game Movies

Published by Jeff Leins on: November 19th, 2009

Brad Pitt’s Plan B production company and India-based conglomerate Reliance Big Pictures have signed a deal with Capcom to bring Dark Void to the screen.  The feature is being considering a “starring vehicle” for Pitt and — like everything else — a potential franchise.

Lukewarm responses to game adaptations haven’t seem to deter businesses from spending big bucks on video game movies. Activision is quietly working on a “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ movie, “Guitar Hero,” and a Sam Raimi-directed “Warcraft” epic.

“Dark Void,” which isn’t out until January 2010, centers on a pilot named Will who crashes into the Bermuda Triangle.  The plummet takes him to an alternate universe where humans battle aliens with advanced technology.  Gameplay will mix land and mid-air confrontations through the use of jetpacks.  Judging from the poster and the video below, this looks like The Rocketeer meets Iron Man, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Though the Hollywood Reporter article says Pitt could play the lead, Plan B’s involvement doesn’t necessarily spell high-flying adventure for the A-lister.  For example, the company also backed Oscar-winner The Departed and the upcoming comic-book comedy Kick-Ass.

Reliance has a financing deal with DreamWorks in place and DreamWorks is partnered with Disney, so distribution could easily be set up for the sci-fi actioner once the pieces are in place.

As far as video games into movies, the genre badly needs a quality entry.  Is this it?  Well, I guess no one knows since the game isn’t out, but Brad Pitt and Capcom seem to think so.  Here’s the senior v-p of licensing at Capcom trying to make the pitch to now skeptical gamers and moviegoers: “As a game, Dark Void was developed with a wide-screen mentality – a world full of adventure presented in cinematic scope and scale.”

Check out this demo of the game (found by Slashfilm).