It's a wonder that J.J. Abrams ever gets any kind of sleep. Maybe he doesn't? The guy is already at the wheel of three of Hollywood's biggest franchises, along with a considerable number of TV projects currently running or in development. So what's the next great territory to conquer? Video games, apparently, and that includes video game movies.
While at the DICE Summit, Abrams hit the stage with Valve's managing director Gabe Newell where he revealed that he has an idea for a game he'll be working with the company on. Ok, that's pretty cool. But it's what Newell said next that got everyone's attention....
Newell: "We're super excited about that, and we also want to talk about making movies, either a 'Portal' movie or a 'Half-Life' movie... What we are actually doing here, we are recapitulating a series of conversations going on. We reached the point that we decided to do more than talk."
Half-Life is generally considered one of the most influential first-person shooter games ever. Debuting back in 1998 for the PC, it follows Dr. Gordon Freeman, a theoretical physicist who opens a gateway from his New Mexico research facility and a monstrous world known as Xen. When the creatures invade, he must try and escape. The game won over 50 Best of the Year awards, and has sold millions of copies worldwide. It spawned a pair of sequels and numerous expansions, leading to its spinoff, Portal.
This could all just be wishful thinking on Newell's part, but it's doubtful he'd raise the possibility so openly without good reason. For a glimpse at what a Portal film could look like, check out this short film from Y: The Last Man's Dan Trachtenberg.
