Edge Online (formerly Next Generation) is reporting that Electronic Arts have signed a deal with the United Talent Agency in Hollywood to bring their franchises to the big screen. The deal with the acting and writing agency will allow EA unparalleled access to scriptwriters, actors, producers and directors so their IPs can be converted to a less interactive, more watchable format.

Hit the jump for more on this, and prepare to cower under your seats once you find out what franchise EA has lined up for your nearest cinema first.

While EA are no stranger to movie franchises (Harry Potter, The Godfather, various James Bond games) they’re not exactly familiar with the idea of getting a slice of Hollywood for themselves. This is where the deal with the United Talent Agency steps in. The UTA represents actors and directors such as Harrison Ford, the Coen brothers, Owen Wilson, Sarah Michelle Gellar and, er, The Rock. Their range and repertoire of big names is undeniable and will certainly do nothing but help EA’s  future film endevors.

EA’s Entertainment Vice-Prez said that the partnership with the UTA will “match each of [EA's] titles with the right artists, producers and financiers,” meaning that the films might not suck as much as say, Doom or Resident Evil, while the UTA called EA an “emerging entertainment force.” To be honest, ‘emerging rulers of the world’ sounds a bit more like it: not content with having a huge stake in the gaming market, or even having Burnout Paradise’s and Rock Band’s soundtracks headlining iTunes, EA are now turning to Hollywood and TV to continue their march onwards to global domination.

Unfortunately, the first franchise EA has lined up for both the silver screen and the small screen is sure to send most gamers running back to their consoles, as 20th Century Fox is already hard at work on a big-screen adaptation of The Sims and an animated TV spin-off of Wii & DS franchise MySims. No idea how entirely freeform God games will form the basis of a movie or even a TV show I’m not really sure. I’m betting on The Sims essentially being a typical romcom albeit with green diamonds floating over their heads: the chances of an action-packed thriller featuring narcissistic serial killers, explosions and exciting car chases are slim. As for MySims expect the typical kiddy cartoon fare, where the little cutesy Sim citizens of Sim Town prance around solving daily Sim dilemmas and being bestest Sim buddies. Simmy Sim Sim Sim.

Slightly more intriguingly, Dead Space will launch with an animated feature included with the game. My guess is that it’ll be a prologue to the game’s storyline, perhaps explaining a little of the gory goings-on on the USG Ishimura before the game’s protagonist gets on board. Hopefully it’ll be just as gory as the game itself, but either way you can’t deny it’s a more exciting prospect than MySims.

Sims spin-offs aside, the EA/UTA deal is a pretty intriguing prospect. In getting directly involved with the film production (as well as getting access to a lot of big names in the movie industry; imagine a Coen-directed adaptation of Battlefield: Bad Company and drool a little) the quality of the films could be far better than some previous attempts at game movie adaptations. I’m pretty excited about this development: what say you though? Drop a comment below or use the News Bot thread on the forums to get talking.

Source: EA Commits to Hollywood – Edge Online

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