10 Promising Video Game Movies That ALMOST Happened
8. Metroid
The Metroid series is one of Nintendo's major tentpoles franchises and in 2004, John Woo purchased the rights to develop it into a movie. Nintendo had been guarded about adaptations since the Mario film disaster, but they were major fans of Woo and happy to collaborate.
The idea was to explore Samus as a full-fledged character and find the person underneath the armoured suit. Angel writer David Greenwalt was brought onboard and pre-production went full steam ahead for 2006 release date.
What Happened?
The soup soured with Nintendo during development (according to producer Brad Foxhoven). As Woo and co attempted to answer questions of Samus' backstory, Nintendo began to impose several restrictions on them - slightly miffed that they didn't have the answers to those questions themselves.
Eventually, the game company axed the movie due to the tensions, then attempted to explore Samus deeper as a character with Metroid: Other M ...uh, thanks for that then?
Why Was It Promising?
Despite the film not advancing past treatment stage, the Metroid series dark atmosphere and epic galactic setting is ripe for cinematic adaptation. Plus the idea of Woo's kinetic action in a rich Sci-Fi setting could've had some very cool results indeed.