As we reported previously, Bethesda has turned down numerous advances from film studios to turn Fallout into a film series.

What with the success (well, in China anyway) of Warcraft and the upcoming Assassin's Creed film with Michael Fassbender, studios are beginning to finally warm to the idea of videogame adaptations. After all, they've got a built-in audience that's hungry for these kind of films and they're now part of popular culture in the same way comics are.

In a recent interview with Finder.com.au, Bethesda's VP of public relations and marketing Pete Hines was quizzed about both the possibility of an Elder Scrolls movie and a Fallout movie. Short answer? No. With a but.

As with most of these things, it comes down to control and Hines expounded on the creative aspects of turning a popular, well-loved game into a marketable film. "Even when they (film studios) say, “oh no, you will have total control,” well, I don’t know anybody who actually has total control over the film adaptation of their video game. If you did, why would you not just make it yourself?"

"Of course the film studio and the scriptwriter and the director are going to have a tonne of say. They will have their own vision. So we get asked all the time, but we see it as a distraction. We’re a video games company; let’s do what we know."

That's a good point and, to be honest, why mess with something for the sake of popularity? When pushed on the topic and by bringing Peter Jackson into the discussion, the tone changed somewhat. "I think if Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings director) turned up at Todd Howard’s (designer of Skyrim, Oblivion, Fallout, etc.) office and said, “I want to do Elder Scrolls,” well that would be a pretty serious conversation you would have to listen to."

"But I think Peter is probably pretty busy (laughs). So I don’t see us any time soon looking at movies. And if you look at our board of directors, we have Hollywood heavyweights like Jerry Bruckheimer, Leslie Moonves and Harry Sloan, so it’s not like we don’t know where to go if we want to get a film or TV show made."

It's a fair comment and, more than anything, Bethesda is being protective of its brand and what it creates. Elder Scrolls has a huge amount of pull for players and so to does Fallout. Wolfenstein, Doom, they're all popular games and could easily be turned into a film - a sub-par film, but a film nonetheless.

And, to be honest, who wants sub-par anything?

 

Via Finder.com.au