Elder Scrolls Film: Bethesda Softworks' Vice-President on Possibilities & Peter Jackson

     Finder spoke to Bethesda Softworks VP, Pete Hines, at QuakeCon about the possibility of their properties becoming films as so many other video game publishers are doing.  Just this year there's been Ratchet & Clank, Angry Birds, and Warcraft, with the soon to be released Assassin's Creed film and yet another installment to the Resident Evil franchise.  There's been plenty already, and even more to come, so it makes sense to inquire about some huge franchises such as Fallout and The Elder Scrolls.
     Hines actually goes above and beyond with the responses and talks about why it's doubtful they'll move towards a cinematic universe and the potential for something with Peter Jackson.

We’re seeing a lot of publishers at the moment taking their IP to the silver screen; how far into the conversation have you been in turning your franchises into movies? 

Pete Hines: We get asked to all the time, but the short version is; we make games. That’s what we are known for. And this conversation usually falls into the camp of; are we going to let some other person do their own interpretation of what Fallout is, or Elder Scrolls is, or Dishonored is? Or are we going to hold onto it and let the developers be the only ones that are able to say, “this is what Fallout is, or Elder Scrolls, or Wolfenstein, or whatever?” 

So we want our developers to decide what our franchises are about and not a movie director, or producer, or studio. 

Even when they say, “oh no, you will have total control,” well, I don’t know anybody who actually has total control over the film adaptation of their video game. If you did, why would you not just make it yourself? Of course the film studio and the scriptwriter and the director are going to have a tonne of say. They will have their own vision. So we get asked all the time, but we see it as a distraction. We’re a video games company; let’s do what we know. 

     From here he expands on what it might take for the current game directors to come forward and make a film.  For added insight Bethesda Game Studios is part of ZeniMax Media, which has a lot of big names that could be tapped for films if the need or want arose.

So it would have to take a Todd Howard to come out and say, “I’m going to make this film myself?” 

Pete Hines: I think if Peter Jackson [Lord of the Rings director] turned up at Todd Howard’s office and said, “I want to do Elder Scrolls,” well that would be a pretty serious conversation you would have to listen to. So I don’t see us any time soon looking at movies. And if you look at our board of directors, we have Hollywood heavyweights like Jerry Bruckheimer, Leslie Moonves and Harry Sloan, so it’s not like we don’t know where to go if we want to get a film or TV show made. 

It’s more about, “Is this something we really want to do? What are we getting out of it? What kind of distraction is it going to create?”

     To me this makes great sense.  Not everything needs to be a film or TV show, and certainly not a film or TV show that takes a direction the actual creators don't want.  I mean Christopher Tolkien hates what Peter Jackson did to the Lord of the Rings series ( 1 , 2 ).  As for the Hobbit, I've been more than displeased with Jackson's absurdity with taking what should've been a single film and turning into an over-stuffed abomination.  Time and again I've complained.  But, here, Hines leaves me feeling good that it probably won't happen and we may rest assured that Jackson won't ruin another beloved series for the fans.

     Source [ Finder ] via [ GameRant ]