Screen Gems — who have already found tremendous success in the videogame-to-movie franchise “Resident Evil” are set to try and replicate that bonanza as Variety reports that they’ve picked up the screen rights to “Devil May Cry.”
Already massively popular in the console world, with 10 million copies of the five-entry-strong series selling worldwide, the plot of the games — to massively reduce it — centers on Dante who avenges the death of his mother by killing demons. Considering the game started as a sequel to “Resident Evil,” no surprise that the basic premise — one person against a world of supernatural creatures — is more or less the same. And considering the “Resident Evil” movies bear little resemblance to the stories in the games — though the films use the same characters — fans shouldn’t expect the mythology of “Devil May Cry” to remain untouched.
Kyle Ward, who penned the stalled “Kane & Lynch” videogame movie, is on board to write the adaptation; we figure once it’s done a director and cast will soon follow.
Can’t say this is up our alley at all, but Screen Gems seem to have the videogame movie figured out — each successive installment in the “Resident Evil” franchise has made more money that its predecessor. And though fans may baulk, the studio knows how to turn these things into broadly appealing films with the box office to back it up.