A new attempt at a Metal Gear Solid film adaptation is on the way, and it already has a directorial duo signed on, Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, of Final Destination: Bloodlines fame.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony has signed the duo to a sweeping “first-look” deal, under which their newly launched company, Wonderlab, will develop films for Lipovsky and Stein to direct, as well as produce for other directors. The apparent focus is on creating fun, commercial, character-driven, and genre-bending films. Metal Gear Solid, which has consistently subverted the medium of video games, does feel like a project that can fit that bill.
“Metal Gear Solid was nothing short of a groundbreaking cinematic masterpiece that forever revolutionized video games. We are thrilled and honored to bring Hideo Kojima’s iconic characters and unforgettable world to life,” says Lipovsky and Stein.
The duo will be directing Sony’s Columbia Pictures Metal Gear Solid, with Avi Arad and Ari Arad set to produce the film. In addition, Lipovsky and Stein are also directing an animated Venom movie for Sony Pictures Animation, and developing the original sci-fi film The Earthling for Columbia Pictures, which they’ll direct and produce alongside Eric Heisserer and Scott Glassgold. It’s fair to say that they might be the two busiest people in Hollywood right now.
“Zach and Adam are thrilling storytellers, masters of visuals and suspense, and two of the most impressive director/producers working today,” said Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch in a statement. “With projects across all the company’s film labels, we are so happy to create a home for them, and proud to have them as part of the Sony family.”
Hopefully, this attempt at a Metal Gear Solid movie fares better than the last one, as a film adaptation has been on and off announced for nearly two decades. At E3 2006, Hideo Kojima announced he’d negotiated a contract with a Hollywood studio for a film, but then in 2010, we learned the project had stalled, and following in 2012, it was announced as in production again with Avi Arad as a producer.
Flip to 2014, and Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) gets attached to the project as a director, but with Kojima leaving Konami in 2015, things were thrown into disarray. It wasn’t until 2020 that we’d hear anything on the project again, with news that Oscar Isaac would play Solid Snake. That version of the film then stalled again in 2022, when Isaac said he’d still love to see it made.
At this point, it’s unclear if Isaac is still attached to Metal Gear Solid or if everything has been completely scrapped and restarted. And only time will tell if we actually, finally, get to see Metal Gear Solid in theatres.
