Dear Hollywood: 5 Tips to Prevent a Lame Myst Movie

Myst coverAs you’ve no doubt heard by now, Myst, one of the most beloved and revered adventure game series of all time, has been optioned to be turned into a full length motion picture. While the content of the movie is no doubt up in the air at the moment, people have been taking shots at Myst and other video game properties for years now, hoping to stick some kind of tap into that overflowing font of money-making wizardry.

Here’s the problem: it’s no great secret that many video game movie adaptations are reviled by even some of their most beloved franchise fans. I’m not going to say that all video game movies are flat out bad by any stretch, but if we’re being honest, there is always plenty lost in translation between the monitor and the silver screen. Heck, just ask Mark Wahlberg. Or the Rock. Or Jake Try-To-Spell-My-Name-Without-Using-IMDB Gyllenhaal.

Looking around on the tubes, I’m seeing a considerable amount of concern out there for the Myst movie, with fans like myself wondering how it can even be portrayed in a way that works, and deservedly so. So, we thought we’d put together a list of things that will help Hollywood, and more specifically Mysteria Film Group, keep the Myst movie from suffering the fate of many other less than well-received adaptations.

Here are 5 tips to prevent a lame Myst movie: Continue reading Dear Hollywood: 5 Tips to Prevent a Lame Myst Movie

Coming Soon: Myst the Movie?

Myst

One of my earliest memories of playing video games on my very own PC (as opposed to the old Macintosh machines at school), was sitting down late at night and wandering through several hours of Myst, one of the top selling adventure games of all time. It was a game unlike anything I had played before. I remember being simultaneously creeped out, enthralled and filled with a sense of awe as I explored the stunning visuals, solved the puzzles and pieced together a world by my own choices. Some of the puzzles still rank among my favorite in gaming history (the piano in the rocketship, for instance).

Given the game’s huge commercial success over time, it should be no surprise then that people in Hollywood have been interested in turning this point-and-click adventure game into even more cash. That’s right, everyone: Myst has been optioned for a movie by Mysteria Film Group along with producers Hunt Lowry (Last of the Mohicans) and Mark Johnson (Chronicles of Narnia).

The primary thing about the first game of Myst is that it is almost completely non-linear, contains virtually no dialogue, no action, no violence and no other direct contact with characters. So how is this going to work as a movie, exactly? Continue reading Coming Soon: Myst the Movie?