Hello,
I've read in an interview with steven spielberg that there were considerations about a film of the dig but that it would be to expensive. But what bout now with the new computer grapz. I really hope this story is turned in to a new film. What bout you people thing bout it???
greetz,
remco
netherlands
Let me say first off, that this is probably my favorite PC game ever, probably cause it was just such a great story. And great music as well. I have both the novelization and soundtrack in addition to the game, so I like to think of myself as having a pretty good knowledge of The Dig.
Anyway, I don't necessarily think that the cost to make would have been the biggest issue, but rather getting a big audience to make their money back. Considering there would only be 3 characters for 90% of the movie and Boston would be solo for much of it, it might be hard to keep the average movie go-er happy without adding some extra Hollywood fluff, which most books/games turned movie usually get. Personally, I do think it could work though (look at 28 Days Later). This game had the perfect mix of emotion, action, wonder, suspense. The only thing that is lacks, I'd say, is humor. Man, just talking about it makes me want to load it up and play it all over again :)
I, for one, would love to see it turned into a movie, exactly as I remember playing it. We can only hope, right? Take care.
Boston - Robert Patrick (of course!)
Maggie - Catherine Bell
Ludger - Til Schweiger
Awesome choice for Ludger. Looks just like him (plus he's German). Although I think George Clooney looks more like Boston I also think Robert Patrick would have to play Boston. He needs a good starring role anyway. I also thought of Carrie-Ann Moss for Maggie although I dont think she's a great actress. Catherine Bell is a good choice I didn't think of.
I just wonder if with not a lot of star power if anyone would be interested in it. But if someone like Spielburg were to direct it (which I don't see happening) then it could be really cool. It's not like Jurassic Park had a lot of star power. Well , here's hoping.
hi agian,
thanks for the reply, i didn't think anyone would monitor this topic, good to have a fellow the dig lover in the world..:D.
But anyways, i don't think they could avoid cgi for this movie because it's fiction. I do have doubts though if it will be a good movie with a lot of cgi, C the days after tomorrow for example. But nm the thing is that this is such a good story they must put this on the wide screen. The dig(VG) is only known to a number of people who played the game( and i don't think that's too much ). But that's a different thing.
The thing is the movie could be a succes if maybe an unknown director, like a B movie director( for instance peter jakson from Lord Of The Rings). Then the CGI wouldn't be an issue because of the budget. Then they will more follow the story and passion of the story, that's what it's really about.
what's your view on that.
greatings,
remco
Hey again. I think you're right about the cgi. They would need to use a lot of it for a movie like this. At least for some of the sets and possibly the spider monster thing and the alien at the end. Although I could see the alien being done animatronically as well.
Anyway, yeah I could see Peter Jackson doing a good job on this movie. Although I wouldn't exactly say he's a B movie director anymore. While the visuals and some of the action in the game is excellent the only thing I think that would bog this movie down is that there are only three main characters, and for the most part they are not together, or in Ludgers case, dead. Although after he is revived it gets interesting and that could lead to some good tension. But there's not really a lot of dialogue or interaction between the characters which might make for a realy slow movie you know? I mean I know I would love watching it but what do you think?
Wow, look at me. I'm not even listening to a word you're saying.share
My only qualm is that they would have to do it right. Take for example a past reverse engineered lucasarts property: Sam & Max. Now albeit they were obscure, irrevrent, and the show was trying to be aimed at kids, but if you ever saw the episodes on Kids WB you'd know that it wasn't done RIGHT. Now if it was on say Adult Swim, or MTV, that would be a whole different story. They're more crass currently on ATHF than S&M ever were.
tee hee S&M...anyway, If anything I'd like to see this at least get turned into a Sci-Fi channel movie. they make lots of stuff that is great on a shoestring budget and get lots of actors to fill the roles, and I think that they'd actually be stepping up their quality if they did something written by Card and Made into a game by LA. They'd also stay very true to the story. I know it might look chintzy but it's better than the fact that it's been 10 yearas an there is no talk talk of a major motion picture. Thougths>
~JYH
I think CGI or digital matte paintings would be necessary for the enormous views, backgrounds and panoramas of the game. Those contributed greatly to the grandeur and atmosphere that made the game so great, so they should be convincing in a movie as well. It's virtually impossible to construct entire sets of the asteroid interior, the canyon, the spires, etc. I don't see what's wrong with CGI when used in this way, it was done in Sin City and Sky Captain as well. Otherwise, normal matte paintings would have to be used, and they aren't too convincing anymore these days. An animatronic of the spider creature could be used for the close-ups, but a CGI creature is always more practical for shots far away.
But there are several reasons why The Dig didn't (and won't) make it to the big screen. The obvious reason is that intelligent sci-fi like Dig does not appeal to large audiences unless it is made more appealing with action or visual effects scenes, like The Matrix and Terminator 2. Sci-fi movies with little emphasis on action or conspicuous effects, like Gattaca, The Thirteenth Floor, Existenz and Dark City got critical acclaim, but they all flopped at the box office. So no one will put in the money that is necessary for a big screen adaptation, when little profit is expected to be made. And it is probably still to expensive for a low-budget pic, given the scale and scope of the game. That's what made a game adaptation so appealing, the costs were affordable that way and the audience was large enough.
Second reason is the story: it's great for a game, it would be okay for tv, but for a movie it may present problems. For instance: the beginning with the meteor would be like Deep Impact or Armageddon. The part where the three astronauts get to the other side of the universe is reminiscent of Star Gate. And then there a long section where Boston is gathering items and clues, and finds out bit by bit what happened on Cocyta. It is not until the end that the aliens come in and dramatic plot developments start to happen. So the bulk of the story may be a too uneventful, even boring, in its current form, lacking character development, conflict, plot twists, humor, etc. What also makes adapting the story difficult is that playing The Dig takes up to 4-5 hours or so. Cramming that into a 2 hour movie would make it feel rushed.
Don't get me wrong, I also love The Dig, it's over ten years old and I still play it every once in a while. I still enjoy the great storyline, the visual style and the rich atmosphere. But that may be hard to translate into a quality film. A good book does not automatically make a good movie, so maybe The Dig also works better as a game. And a great game it is. Maybe they should do a remake with improved Pentium 500 graphics for the fans. Just an idea.
Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony - Morpheus
I'd like to see a new version of The Dig be released, but both of us know that it has a snowball's chance in Hell of happening. Just look at what LucasArts did to Sam & Max 2 and Full Throttle 2.
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Looks like you forgot to take your anti-retard pills again.
Why not a tv miniseries? Just like Taken. Adventure on the another planet.
shareHey, I'm really surprised to see that such a thread exists, even more surprised to find The Dig on IMDB.
A couple of good friends of mine in high school were experts on CGI and sound editing, and we actually planned to make an independent student film of The Dig. Of course, we never got it finished, and none of use were very good actors, but one of my friends did succeed in making an extensive script, based on Alan Dean Foster's novel. The friend of mine in question does plan to make movies professionally some day, and The Dig is still one of his top choices for future projects, so if someone else doesn't get the rights to it first, he may be the one to do it. And if he's the one doing it, you needn't worry about it being ruined for the sake of the unwashed masses, because he really respects the story, so he'd give it proper script-to-screen treatment.
I myself have been planning to make a graphic novel with the script he made, which may someday serve as a storyboard for the film. I still might use some of the Orson Scott Card dialogue for the parts where I think the game did it better than the book. Some of the creatures will have original designs, and some will be based on the art from the game. This will of course we rather difficult to get the rights to publish, but hopefully they'll see the light.
If The Dig is going to be made into an effective movie, it will have to conform to the typical three-act structure common in most fiction (films, novels, and others). The solo part of the story which works well in the game will have to be shortened considerably, with more emphasis on multiple characters and their reactions to cirumstances. The scenes with the monster and the tomb guardians would probably have to have more action and last a bit longer, but of course not too much longer. Also, a particularly good character actor will have to play Brink, to convey his madness convincingly, and to really give the audience a sense of conflict and danger. It may end up being kind of like an alien version of Castaway or Lost or any of those other things about people being stuck in a "Lord of the Flies" kind of scenario. To really tell the story effectively, I agree that this needs either a three hour long movie, or a miniseries or TV movie. I'm almost hoping nobody ever makes a movie because of the probability of them screwing it up, but at least one person I know may be the right choice :)
I was planning an amature film of The Dig but unfortuntely I couldn't afford it at all. Mainly because of the sets required.
I wrote my own script which added another character who was in the game originally but was axed when the creaters were changed: Toshi Olema, the creater of the PenUltimate! He was supposed to die in a horrible death sequence where he walked into a cave where acidic droplets fell from the ceiling and was melted to death.
There's some screenshots of this when the character models looked more cartoon-ish. There's also an animation frame of him being resurrected by a life crystal so who knows if he would have also suffered from Brink's madness in the final game?
Here's shots of Toshi as well as his death and resurrection.
http://lucasarts.vintagegaming.org/index.php?do=ss&gameid=12&systemid=26
"Kots and koshkas going maaaaaaa for more moloko."
It was, at various times, attempted, but eventually deemed too expensive to film. So, they made a video game instead. I think they should try shooting the movie now that we have the right technology.
shareI'd like to see a movie made of this even though not much happens in the game. If they do make it, hopefully the ending will the same as the game because it is the greatest ending I've ever seen. I saw a big life lesson in the ending which was to enjoy it while you have it.
shareI would love to see a movie made! The Dig is one of my all time favorite games! If not, my absolute favorite! What happened to video games? I wish they would make adventure games again!
shareI also think they should make a movie of this. It was a great game with a cool story and an awesome soundtrack.
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