Potential "God of War" movie maker Brett Ratner would really like to make a "Guitar Hero" movie.
But the "X-Men" and "Rush Hour" director doesn't think Activision would want him to.
Ratner spoke to my MTV News colleague Jocelyn Vena yesterday for an interview primarily about his "Best Director" Video Music Awards nomination for his work on Miley Cyrus' "7 Things" music video. Since Ratner has done a lot with "Guitar Hero" lately -- he had Miley pretending to smash "Guitar Hero" instruments on the set of "7 Things," had "GH" in his Mariah Carey video and got it on American Idol -- we needed to ask him what else he has in store for the game.
This was his unexpected response:
"I love 'Guitar Hero' and I think it's a part of pop culture. I would love to do a 'Guitar Hero' movie, if Activision would ever let me. I'm trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise? Not that I would make a bad movie. So that would be cool, to do a 'Guitar Hero' movie. "
And here is his idea for the plot:
"It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the 'Guitar Hero' competition. One of these dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts."
Ratner's been able to have significant influence on the "Guitar Hero" franchise through his Brett Ratner Brands consultancy. That arrangement brought about those music video cameos. He also told us that it enabled him to help name the next installment of the series. "I have a deal with Activision for their branding," he said. "For instance, naming 'Guitar Hero: World Tour,' coming up with the new 'Guitar Hero game name. It's sort of like [MTV's] 'Rock Band.' So they said: 'Come up with a name.' And I did, and it became 'Guitar Hero: World Tour.'"
Given that Ratner wanted to share so much about "Guitar Hero," we thought he might have something to say about the hoped-for "God of War" movie. All he would say is that he's "doing a movie version of 'God of War,'" declining to provide an update on the status of the project nor his ideal casting for the possible film's roles.
Who's up for a "Guitar Hero" flick?