A live-action movie based on the popular Metal Gear game franchise has been in the works since around 2006, but the project received an additional bit of momentum this week with the attachment of a new screenwriter.
According to Deadline, Monsters: Dark Continent co-writer Jay Basu will pen the screenplay for Metal Gear Solid, a live-action film inspired by the games that takes its title from the most popular installment of the series.
Set to be directed by The Kings of Summer filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts (who’s also directing the upcoming Kong: Skull Island), Metal Gear Solid is rumored to follow covert operative Solid Snake on a mission to infiltrate a nuclear weapons facility in Alaska that has been taken over by a renegade special forces unit. This was the basic premise for the 1998 game of the same name, and early reports suggest that the film’s plot will hew closely to the that of the game, which was celebrated for its cinematic tone and layered storyline.
The Metal Gear franchise was created by Hideo Kojima and debuted in 1987 with the groundbreaking Metal Gear, which popularized the use of stealth elements in gaming. It was followed by nine more installments that served as both sequels and prequels, and that established a decade-spanning continuity for the franchise and its characters. To date, more than 30 million copies of Metal Gear games have been sold.
The next installment of the franchise, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, will hit shelves September 1.
Actor and screenwriter David Hayter famously voiced series protagonist Solid Snake throughout much of the franchise, but thus far the X-Men and X-Men 2: X-Men United co-writer hasn’t been confirmed for a role in Metal Gear Solid — either in front of the camera or behind it — leading to a fan campaign to have him involved in some form.
There’s currently no release date set for Metal Gear Solid.
