But regardless of nonsensical multi-layering of hype, THQ'spreviously-mentioned-by-50-CentSaints Row movie is soon to become official.
Speaking toGamasutratoday, THQ CEO Brian Farrell has stated that the project will get a formal announcement next month, presumably by way of press conferences, press releases, and cast and crew showboating. No word yet on Fiddy's continued involvement, but given his strong links with the publisher by way of his own game, Blood on the Sand, I reckon he'll still have his oar in one way or another.
Will it be good? Obviously it's way too soon to tell, but despite seriously mixed opinions on the series within the gaming community, I think that if they get the tone right then a Saints Row movie could be a hoot, in a crazy, cartoonish, Crank/Expendibles kind of way.
Plus, THQ is mighty serious about its transmedia strategy (I apologise for unironically using such a phrase). Aside from Saints Row, it is also developing Red Faction as a TV series and getting together a novel based on its upcomingCundy-impressingalternate history FPS, Homefront. So it's unlikely that any of these projects are simply opportunistic, pumped-out-in-five-minutes ventures.
As Farrell points out, control and extension of a company's own, original IPs is a big deal in the modern games industry, and something that needs to be taken seriously:
"Yeah, we made a lot of money on Disney%26rsquo;s Cars, but they own that franchise. When you create your own brands, which you can do in the core space, that%26rsquo;s when you can create a lot of value for your shareholders"
And even if movie, novel and TV series do turn out to be a crusty load of old poop, the fact that this strategy has THQ solidly focused on original core games has to be a good thing. The company has been picking up some very cool and interesting stuff over the last year or so, and I'm very eager to see it continue doing so.
