The Metacritic rating of 87 attached to Quantic Dream's "Heavy Rain" belies the wide disparity between actual review scores for that particular game. A beautiful game which was itself in many ways an interactive movie, detractors took issue with a number of elements, everything from basic production-type stuff like voice acting to more abstract concerns with the game's unique, largely contextual control scheme. Everyone seemed to think it was interesting, but no one could agree on whether that was a good or a bad thing. Now we're going to get to see if Quantic Dream's efforts translate well across mediums with a film treatment from one of the top names out there: David Milch.
Milch is the mind behind HBO's excellent, prematurely concluded Wild West series, "Deadwood." The show's dialogue, which was largely written by its creator, is intricate and dense, almost Shakespearian in its rhythms and delivery. This is the guy charged with penning a "Heavy Rain" script now.
Warner Bros. is developing the project with Milch and Unique Features, with Variety reporting that the project is being fast-tracked into production. Also producing are Unique's Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne. Of Milch, Shaye had this to say: "David Milch's incredible ability to transform intense and complex storylines into gripping, popular drama makes him the perfect partner for us to have on 'Heavy Rain.'"
Before we all start dancing in the streets and shooting off fireworks at the news of such a modern-day auteur nabbing this high-profile adaptation, let's take a moment to remember exactly what it was that killed "Deadwood": "John from Cincinatti." Milch's follow-up HBO series was an incomprehensible mess, canceled almost immediately after its first season came to a close. Every artist has a bad day; let's hope Milch spent all of his on "Cincinatti."