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First Person Shooters (Games) Media Movies

Doom Movie Scriptwriter Dave Callaham Interviewed 275

Posted by michael from the scripted-event dept.
rsmith-mac writes "The HomeLAN Federation has posted an interview with Dave Callaham, the scriptwriter for the forthcoming Doom movie. The interview goes over id's influences on the movie and willingness to change the mythology to work with the movie, along with the earlier reported studio shift, and some very light details relating to the characters in the story. If all goes as planned, the Doom movie will start principal production this month in order to hit the theaters in August of 2005."
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Doom Movie Scriptwriter Dave Callaham Interviewed More

Doom Movie Scriptwriter Dave Callaham Interviewed

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  • An excerpt of the interview: (Score:5, Funny)

    by Concern ( 819622 ) * on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:32AM (#10458746) Journal
    Interviewer: So, Mr. Callah, let's start with the most important question on everyone's mind. Will there be lava? And, perhaps more importantly, will there be crates?

    Callahan: I want to put everyone's mind to rest on this point. The studio has the best lava people in the business, and they've specifically assured me I will have a free hand.

    Interviewer: Phew. Also, before I forget. we're all dying to know. Will the hero at any point successfully outrun a fireball? This is something that is so important, not only to me, but I think I can speak for all moviegoers out there. It's an image that really really gets better every time I see it.

    Callahan: Well, Ed, I don't want to give too much away, but we briefly considered having the hero run from a nuclear explosion! Don't worry, there'll be plenty of what we know the audience loves most.

    Interviewer: So, let's talk about the plot. Which of the hero's family members will be killed? Mother? Father? Both parents? Or will it be a hero-parent who loses his kids?

    Callahan: Actually, what I'm allowed to say is that we're going a bit unconventional on this. We're going to have a brother and a sister, and each one will lose a parent. I know this is pushing the envelope a bit, but the producers are behind me and I believe the studio will hold off and allow us some of the artistic integerity which we all know is so rare in this business.

  • Sure to be ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by operagost ( 62405 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:32AM (#10458748) Homepage Journal
    The best video game movie since Super Mario Brothers!

    • Re:Sure to be ... (Score:3, Informative)

      by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) *
      It's funny because this movie has been in the works since Doom II came out. At the time, there was a blurb in PC Gamer about how they were going to make a movie out of Doom. Then Quake came along and there was another blurb about plans having switched to a Quake movie. Now (some decade later) they're talking about a Doom movie again. And every last announcement was supposed to be "a sure thing".

      The only sure thing about Hollywood is that they'll run you around in circles. Maybe we should give the movie to
      • If they had only followed 3D Realms instead and thought about a Duke Nukem Forever movie.

        At least they stay focused on one particular first person shooter for long enough to produce a movie about it.
      • "Maybe we should give the movie to Bollywood. Then the grunt can get up and sing after he kills the evil cacodemon!"

        Not before they play hide and seek amongst the trees/pillars first...
    • MORTAL KOMBAT!!! (FIGHT!)

    • .. he says much of the inspirstion for the graphics is coming from rotten.com



      Unfortunately, his opinion of the movie so far is that it is going to be 'crap'.

    • Re:Sure to be ... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by bsharitt ( 580506 ) <bridget@sharitt . c om> on Thursday October 07, 2004 @11:32AM (#10459994) Journal
      The game franchise I want to see turned into a movie is Warcraft. They could easily make a trilogy on the scale of the Lord of the Rings movies. With the story telling in the game and the back stories in the manuals, I think there is enough there to base a good script on.
  • How long has this movie been 'in production'? I have high hopes, since Morgan Freeman has personal interest in this movie.
    First Post?

  • Great expectations (Score:5, Funny)

    by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:33AM (#10458760)
    I have high hopes that will be another classic video game transfer. Just like Super Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Tombraider and Wing Commander.
    • You forgot Street Fighter ;-). Seriously though, for what it was (a fun frivolous action movie), I thought Resident Evil was pretty good.

    • Re:Great expectations (Score:5, Interesting)

      by kahei ( 466208 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:52AM (#10458906) Homepage

      Resident Evil (the first one) was an excellent movie, beautifully paced and choreographed (dogs and doors sequence!). Given the director's record in general, this must have been a coincidence, but still, great movie.

      I haven't seen the others you mention but I may decide to give them a miss -- SPECIALLY the Resident Evil sequel.

      • I thought the second RE movie was good. Different than the first -- different feel, different director, but it was worth seeing in the theater, and I'm going to buy it on DVD when it comes out.
      • I've gotta say I agree. If you look at it from the aspect of a horror/zombie movie, I think it stands up quite well. There's a real plot, characters, subplots, etc. Its far from the best movies out there, but is really in a very different league than the other video game movies. Mortal Kombat and Tomb Raider had some small value, but Super Mario, Wind commander, and Street fighter sucked. They might be entertaining if you're really into the games(probably really hardcore).

        Many video games don't translate t
      • I'm going to have to promote Wing Commander and Tomb Raider to you. Tomb Raider seemed to differentiate itself well away from the game so it was enjoyable enough, and I thought Wing Commander was great. I had heard of a game by that name but since I'd never played it I never knew the movie was based on it, and couldn't tell it had anything to do with a game.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • The perfect DOOM script wich can really work (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @12:42PM (#10460801) Journal
      It is so simple it will never occur to anyone in hollywood. A group of marins is stationed on mars at research facility to keep the peace. It is an important post and the duty is peacefull but requires lots of discipline to exist as a civilian peacekeeper so in contrast to all hollywood movies the marines are well trained and disciplined and selected for their stable family backgrounds and general good social skills. They can be a mixture of all races and religion but they are all okay with each other.

      They are commanded by a hardbitten veteran sergeant for who this is a reward, a few easy years at a top post before his retirement. He does not a chip on his shoulder about anything. New is the officer but he is smart, knows his stuff, knows to use his NCO's and that sometimes orders are there to be disobeyed. None of his family had been killed by anyone and he is single.

      In the first ten minutes we learn a little about how nice and stable they all are and see a bit of the base. Perhaps get a few hints about some Big Fucking Gun being developed and meet the system administrator, a nice tomboy girl with no hangups and also single. She and the officer take an instant "dis"like to each other and trade funny one liners.

      Remember this takes about ten minutes. During the opening credits. Then the movie starts and hell breaks loose as the research goes wrong.

      From then on we don't got any lines longer then two sentences. The "story" is basically the sergeant and the officer trying to get their team together (spread out across the base during the incident) with the help of the system admin (que banter and very light love interest) and then beat back the demons with the help of the tech gadgets hinted at during the intro with of course the final mission to collect the BFG and kill the boss demon.

      After the first suprise no-one gets killed needlessly, everyone does their job with perhaps just a few civilians being funnily slaughtered because they do the stupid thing. None of the marines panick or betray the team or any of the hollywood crap. The team doesn't get smaller and smaller but gets bigger as the group gathers members.

      In short? Band of Brothers Meets Alien. That is the Real men acting like real men in a future world with really nasty monsters and big explosions.

      Avoid all the "incompetent officer" "hardbitten marine with broken home" "backstabbing civilian" "scream queen love interest" "slowly people getting killed off in incredibly stupid ways" and you won't need a "great story", the audience will be too relieved with your originality to care.

      • Re:The perfect DOOM script wich can really work (Score:4, Insightful)

        by syberanarchy ( 683968 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @05:00PM (#10463973) Journal
        You know what? That's a damn fine script idea. You ought to write the screenplay and try and sell it on spec. Just put a different name on it.

        I can, however, tell you why Doom and all other licensed properties never get the perfect treatment they deserve.

        1. Ego

        The film industry has always, and will always, feel that they are artistically superior as a medium to video games. Despite the fact that Doom 3 probably made more in one day than their Chronicles of Riddick made in its entire run, they still view "their" ideas as being better than Carmack's.

        When Max Payne - a game with enough built in material for 2 films - hits the screen, you can be assured there will be only a passing resemblance to the game. Ms. Valkyr will probably end up being played by Jessica Simpson, and Payne will most likely be played by Vin Diesel. Also, in an attempt to get a PG-13 rating, Valkyr will become Valka-Cola.

        2. The Fans Can Do Better, But They Don't Know The Right People

        I'm sure the industry elitists will flame me for this, but the simple fact is that there are probably 20 different scripts for any given conversion that are better than what was actually put on the screen. A dedicated group of fans could have done better with AvP and Street Fighter. They took a classic franchise for geeks and turned it into a teen flick. I'm sure it will be the same with Doom. Remember the Lost in Space update (which I liked)? I can see the Doom movie being something like that, but with zombies instead of spiders.

        3. The Game's Audience Is Generally Smarter Than The Movie's Audience

        Continuing the "It's not what you know..." situation, Resident Evil will always suck in my mind because they threw away a godsend based on petty Hollywood politics.

        You know who was originally signed to write and direct the film? George Romero, the man who all but invented the modern zombie film. Capcom then fired him because his script "wasn't good enough," then turned around and hired the man behind Mortal Kombat.

        What Capcom really means is that Romero's script stuck too close to the game, and that would have alienated people who couldn't follow an intelligent plot - otherwise known as 75 percent of the moviegoing public. What they needed was a shallow, plotless movie with lots of EXPLOSIONS and EYE CANDY and HOT CHICKS, not a well-written film that stuck to the source material.

  • hmmm... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:33AM (#10458762)
    Will I have to upgrade my eyes/ears to see it?

    • Re:hmmm... (Score:3, Funny)

      by CMRichar ( 610129 )
      "Will I have to upgrade my eyes/ears to see it?"

      A:No! amazingly enough, our expert group of beta testers found that the best results for viewing the movie actually came with the stock audio/visual equipment packaged with every human. Some testers required certain "tweaks" to get the audio or visual to display correctly, but those users who require those tweaks should already have them installed.

      As a side note, it should be brought to your attention that certain users who have "overclocked" certain par

  • Real old, real fast (Score:3, Insightful)

    by dfj225 ( 587560 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:34AM (#10458765) Homepage Journal
    I dunno...if the whole movie just involves one actor running through a pitch black set with random zombies jumping out from in front and behind (after he just cleared the room behind him), I think the movie will get real old, real fast. Zing!

  • I'm your man! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:34AM (#10458771)
    willingness to change the mythology to work with the movie

    If they get stuck with this...give me a call.

    G. Lucas.
  • At first it seemed like a bad idea all around, you know "another" video game movie, but at least this is one game that could have a good movie made from it.

    Of course the first 30 minutes will be all about how we got on Mars, bringing us up to speed and then the rest of the movie will be gibs, gibs, gibs...

    • gibs (Score:2)

      by mfh ( 56 )
      They had better pronounce gibs correctly. It's not Jibs -- it's Gibs! (With a hard G, not a J.)

      I hope they have some nods to the other great Id Games, where a zombie rides [gc]dolomite's rocket! Or, Ogre trips over his own pinaple.
      • While I personally say "Gib" as in "Green", too many other places have I heard it pronounces "jib" for it not to come from some sort of reference...

        Then again, there was that period when it seemed everyone was calling gif's "jifs"
        • "Gibs" comes from "giblets," referring to the little pieces left behind. It's pronounced with a soft 'g.'

          • Re:gibs (Score:3, Interesting)

            by mfh ( 56 )
            UK folks use a soft 'g' for giblets, but Canadians and many Americans use a hard 'g' for giblets. Cooks likely use a soft 'g' because they are hoity-toity. :-)

            • Re:gibs (Score:3, Interesting)

              by Martin Blank ( 154261 )
              My mom is from Chicago, my maternal grandmother from St. Louis, my dad from the Northwest, my paternal grandfather from Boston, and my maternal grandmother and great-great-grandmother were from Tulsa. All of them pronounced it with a soft 'g' so I tend to think that this is the dominant pronunciation around the US at least. However, Dictionary.com has two entries with differing pronunciations -- the American Heritage Dictionary has it with the soft sound, and the Webster's has the hard sound.

              Lending some
        • I thought it was pronounced 'jibs', since I thought 'gibs' was short for 'giblets'.

    • Re:Doom the movie? (Score:4, Funny)

      by StuckInSyrup ( 745480 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:50AM (#10458883)
      I wonder...are they going to land on mars using Carmacks Armadillo spacecraft?

  • Top-level acting (Score:5, Funny)

    by media_Assassin ( 176375 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:35AM (#10458782)
    Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will also appear as Sarge, the head space marine, but Callaham warns, "He is not going to be smiling a whole bunch. You won't see him raise his left eyebrow."

    This movie is bound to be good - The Rock only accepts scripts of the highest quality.
    • I just can't bring myself to see a movie based upon a video game of my generation that has the Rock as the lead character.

      I would rather not know the person that saves the world then have it be an action flick where the movie is based upon a love story or popularity of its main character.

      Don't give it to the rock.

    • Re:Top-level acting (Score:3, Informative)

      by NeoCode ( 207863 )
      It has been [gamespot.com] reported [imdb.com] that Karl Urban (LoTR's Eomer) has signed on to play the lead as John Grimm.

  • Thank You Hollywood! (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I've been waiting so long for an action movie where there is a single hope for mankind?! I wonder if there will be explosions and stuff...?!

  • Main character = John (Score:5, Informative)

    by arnoroefs2000 ( 122990 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:38AM (#10458800) Homepage
    One thing that id did insist upon is that the main character in the movie be named John. When asked, Callaham was unsure if that was a tribute to id's master programmer John Carmack but did admit there is another character named Carmack in the movie.

    Yes, quite the mystery where that came from...

  • Why wouldnt someone.. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cOdEgUru ( 181536 ) * on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:41AM (#10458816) Homepage Journal
    with lot of talent and lot of time on their hands wouldnt use the Doom3 engine to (a)create new models (b)create new environments and (c) with the help of a good story writer, create a pre-rendered movie with an acceptable level of voiceover acting, great action and stuff that blows up sky high. Or does someone really need to spend around 200 mil to find what Aliens Versus Predator just found out?

    I would even pay if someone could make it engrossing enough to waste a few hours on it, and salacious enough to keep the young viewers glued to their screens.
  • They were really quite generous in changing the Doom mythology a bit.

    Wait, so you take the very thing that MAKES it doom, and you change it?
    • Yeah really. What ARE they going for?

      Another planet? Aliens instead of demons?

      There isnt much 'mythology' to start with, so it gives one pause to wonder how badly they're going to screw up.
      • Agreed. If they aren't spawned from Hell then what the hell is the point?

        "Hey, instead of having our 'Tale of Two Cities' movie taking place in France during the revolution, let's place it in a Brooklyn barber shop during a series of momma jokes. The audience will love it since they're a bunch of twits who like sparkley objects!"

  • Except from the Script (Score:5, Funny)

    by Nova Express ( 100383 ) <lawrenceperson@@@gmail...com> on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:44AM (#10458840) Homepage Journal
    Sarge Runs

    Sarge Shots The Monster

    Sarge Runs

    Sarge Shots The Monster

    Sarge Picks Up More Ammo

    Sarge Runs

    Monster Shoots Sarge Just Before He Shots The Monster

    Sarge: Ouch!

    Sarge Runs

    Sarge Opens A Secret Door

    Sarge Applies A Medkit

    Sarge Runs

    Sarge Shots The Monster

    Sarge Finds A Bigger Gun

    ____________________________

    Academy Award, here we come!

    (Note: I couldn't put directions in all caps like a real script due to Lameness Filter...)

  • Game vs Movie (Score:2, Funny)

    by vinukr ( 796210 )
    Can they make the movie as real as the game is, especially doom 3?? I doubt it.
  • Honestly , i am not a fan of games2movie type of movies ... i prefer games to remain games ... i won't be watching this ... anyone else feel this way ?
    • There's been a lot of talk about how the video game industry is eclipsing the film industry, especially when you consider the market segment that video games are hitting. Even my wife's grandmother played The Sims.

      Personally, I think that this is an unfortunate move. Very few video games have the storytelling, plot, character development, etc. that quality films do. Doom 3, which I recently completed, started off with the potential to open up into the storytelling. By the end, I was simply blasting everyth
    • i won't be watching this ... anyone else feel this way ?


      This being Slashdot... no, not really.

  • haven't i seen this already? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by putch ( 469506 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:54AM (#10458921) Homepage
    Ghosts of Mars [imdb.com]

    mars. demons. guns. space marines. little or no plot.

    seemed like doom to me.
    • RTFI(nterview), he said he didn't want it to be just a bloody action-fest.

      "Callaham understands that, "There are going to be Doom fans that are going to want a movie that is nothing but action.", but he felt that it was important to put in real people that you can relate to, similar to what Aliens and the first Predator movie had with their Colonial Marines and Special Forces teams respectively. As far as the poor showing video game movies have had over the years and if that intimidated him, he said. "I ne

  • Going for greatness! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hanssprudel ( 323035 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @09:59AM (#10458963)
    Let's see here. What have got:

    a) Movie based around a video game whose entire plot was "bad things came from hell, kill them."

    b) First time scriptwriter.

    c) B-Movie director whose best credits are Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds, and involvement in such classic stinkers as Species and Speed, changed in to direct at last minute.

    d) Will star The Rock and a washed out Bond girl in leading parts.

    e) Tossed around between studios.

    I think we are looking a three or four Academy awards, at least!

  • Wolfenstein 3D (Score:3, Interesting)

    by haggar ( 72771 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:01AM (#10458983) Homepage Journal
    I would really love to see a movie based on that game. I like the setup, it just tickles my imagination and arises my curiosity. On the other hand, it would be really easy to spoil the atmosphere of the game, if the filmmakers get it wrong. Which they almost always do. So, beware of the Doom movie, it might be a let-down for many Doom fans.

    OTOH, I really like "Resident Evil" the movie, better than the game.
    • How are they going to ruin the atmosphere of Wolf3D? By having the hero _not_ run down hallways banging on every blue brick wall in the hopes of opening up a secret passage?

  • Telefragged! (Score:5, Funny)

    by wuice ( 71668 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:04AM (#10459001) Homepage
    The only thing I want to see a doom movie for is to watch a real actor rocket jump to an otherwise-inaccessible ledge.

    Oh yes, and I want to see someone telefragged on screen.
  • Its called Aliens.

    If they want this movie to not suck, they better consult with James Cameron.

  • What about Bungie's Marathon? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jjh37997 ( 456473 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:09AM (#10459034) Homepage
    Hell..... if there are going to be making movies based on old shoot-em ups why not pick one that acutally has an interesting story and plot?

  • Doomed movie... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by oneiron ( 716313 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:17AM (#10459091)
    Before they switched directors, this movie had a chance to be an amazing flick. The guy who was previously directing it has worked on a few Nine Inch Nails videos, and you can bet he was planning to stay as true to the original mythology with as little overdramatized love-interest-style garbage as possible. Now, it seems, it will be just another movie based on a game that hollywood butchers for the sake of the almighty dollar. The original director's unwillingness to compromise with money grubbing producers is probably a big part of why he's not on the project, anymore.

    Within days after the new director was announced; the script had already been butchered with the addition of an endangered love interest and the elimination of the pre-human civilization plotline.

    The evil quotient of hollywood producers is right up there with the MPAA and RIAA.
  • Believe it or not, the Doom movie is Callahams first produced movie script ...

    Hard to believe, lets listen in to that meeting:

    Hm, in return for some publicity, we appear to be committed to making a complete turkey of a movie which will blight the career of all those associated with it. Even our scriptwriters have too much spine to agree to work on this.

    Hey! Why don't we give the job to that new kid -- he's too wet behind the ears to know to refuse!

  • Cinematography suggestions (Score:4, Funny)

    by babbage ( 61057 ) <cdevers.cis@usouthal@edu> on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:22AM (#10459151) Homepage Journal

    For it to really be a Doom movie, it has to be done first person shooter style.

    This means, of course, that the camera has to be permanently mounted behind a gun barrel and, aside from mirrors and other reflective objects, you never get to see the protagonist's face -- because he is, after all, the true everyman, representative of everyone and specifically looking like no one. For truly, who among us has not had to slay a million zillion zombies?

    A true first person shooter version of Doom / Quake etc would be cool, in a "Blaim Doom Project" kind of way ...

  • Gore? (Score:2)

    by alexandre ( 53 )
    I hope they're going to make it like DooM was...
    And i mean:

    - people with big pipes across the chess shaking to death.
    - people straped on the wall bleeding to death..
    - people dying all around the place and satanic symbols!

    Yeah! that's the spirit! ;-)

  • Just don't be like Lucas! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Maul ( 83993 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:25AM (#10459185) Journal
    Remember that when facing down the Cyberdemon, the space marine shoots first!
  • I heard the plot was very character driven

  • Those Doom Novels (Score:3, Interesting)

    by JMPrice ( 598519 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:41AM (#10459377) Homepage
    Did anyone else read the four Doom novels by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver?

    The books got increasingly metaphysical as they reached the fourth book, but the first book was awesome and I always saw it as movie-ready. It dealth with the solipsism and paranoia of being on a space-station by oneself (and, ok, a couple of thousand Satanic spawn).

  • The irony... (Score:2, Funny)

    by Apostata ( 390629 )
    ...is that the people doing CGI for the movie probably couldn't run the game on their systems.
  • So, when do we get to see the Commander Keen movie? I nominate Rush Limbaugh for the part of Dopefish.

  • Flexibility with script? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Dracolytch ( 714699 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @10:59AM (#10459599) Homepage
    You mean id was willing to be flexible with the DOOM storyline? The storyline that went something like...

    It's demons.

    It's aliens.

    No... wait... It's demonic aliens.

    No, they're really demons, from hell.

    You go to hell and kill all of the demons.

    Research on Mars summons demons who try to steal ships to invade Earth.

    I don't know how they could EVER justify deviation.

    ~D

  • With any luck... (Score:3, Funny)

    by cjpez ( 148000 ) on Thursday October 07, 2004 @11:14AM (#10459769) Homepage Journal
    ... it'll be every bit as good as the comic book [doomworld.com].
  • A lot of people on here are complaining about the lack of plot, but perhaps they're thinking of the the original doom games and not doom3

    a) Far-flung space colony on mars
    b) Experimental weapons researched by a huge conglomerate
    c) Discovery of an alien race with ties to earth
    d) Alien race apparently killed off by other alien race
    e) Alien race sacrified many of its citizens to create a device used to stave off the baddies
    f) Possibility that the aliens escape to Earth, perhaps as our ancestors
    g) Nutso

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