Heavy Rain, Quantic Dream’s critically acclaimed video game for the PS3, relied heavily on a mature narrative and cinematic storytelling – as a result, some detractors dismissed the title as nothing but an interactive movie.
Our Heavy Rain review disagreed with the assertion, but the detractors weren’t all-wrong – Heavy Rain is brimming with story potential.
At least that’s what producers Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne must have been thinking when they outbid everyone for the Heavy Rain film rights at a recent CAA auction. If the deal goes through, the pair will produce the film through their company Unique Features.
According to Deadline, Warner Bros. will have first look, but Shaye didn’t want to wait for the studio’s approval and bought the rights with his own money.
For anyone unfamiliar with the game:
“Heavy Rain is a gripping psychological thriller filled with innumerable twists and turns, where choices and actions can and do result in dramatic consequences. Spanning four days of mystery and suspense, the hunt is on for a murderer known only as the Origami Killer – named after his macabre calling card of leaving behind folded paper shapes at crime scenes. Even more chilling is the fiend’s well established pattern of killing his victims four days after abducting them.
The public is gripped with fear as the police seem powerless to stop the carnage, and another potential victim — Shaun Mars — has gone missing. Now four characters, each following their own leads and with their own motives, must take part in a desperate attempt to prevent the killer from taking yet another life.”
Heavy Rain has been an important title for the PlayStation 3 – showcasing the power of the hardware, as well as Sony’s interest in pushing the boundaries of interactive media.
Assuming the Unique deal goes through, the Heavy Rain film adaptation will still be a couple years out – but I’m confident the wait will be worth it. The characters in Heavy Rain were believable and emotive – providing rich groundwork for any actors that might be stepping into the roles.
However, it’ll be interesting to see the end result. One of the premier joys of Heavy Rain was the player’s responsibility in the events as they unfolded. Heavy Rain doesn’t feature game-over screens, so if a character dies – they’re gone for good. Though, there’s no doubt that, even without the interactive component, Heavy Rain’s story (often compared to David Fincher’s Se7en) would be enough to carry a feature-length picture.
We’ll keep you posted on further developments – but, in the meantime make sure to check out our review of Heavy Rain for the PS3.
Would you go see a film adaptation of Heavy Rain? Who should play the four main characters?
