Paul W.S. Anderson is probably best known as the director of the first "Resident Evil" movie. After skipping two follow-ups, he's returning to the franchise in "Resident Evil: Afterlife." His love of games is clear. Apart from his experience with Capcom's survivor horror series, as he's reportedly in the early stages of films based on "Castlevania" and "Driver." His interest in making movies based on game franchises goes the other way, as well. Speaking with MTV News in preparation for this week's 3D Gaming Summit, Anderson mentioned that he's interested in developing new games and movies right alongside each other.
"In the future I want to be developing intellectual properties that will occupy both spaces simultaneously...I've been actively involved in the gaming world for 15 years now, talking to developers ever since 'Mortal Kombat,' so I think I have a very good appreciation for what their needs and what their concerns are. I think I really do know how to join the two medias, [games and movies], together in a successful way, and that's what I'll be working on in the next few years."
He mentioned that one of his next projects, "The Three Musketeers," is a bit too far along in development to attempt this simultaneous game and movie coalition, but he goes on to specify another project with which he'll be kicking off the initiative.
"'Buck Rogers' is something that's starting from ground zero right now, so that's definitely something that I would be considering doing. Really my approach to bridging the two medias is from 'Buck' onwards."
Currently "Buck Rogers," based on the classic sci-fi serial, is tentatively scheduled for a 2011 release, so if Anderson is looking to get his games-alongside-movies initiative off on the right foot, he had better find a developer soon.
This isn't the first time a director has wanted to forge a close alliance between a film and game. Unfortunately James Cameron failed to achieve impressive results with Ubisoft's "Avatar" game, so here's hoping Anderson has a bit better luck.
For more info on the "Buck Rogers" movie, check out MoviesBlog.MTV.com.