Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Spy Hunter Movie

While doing press for his new film Gangster Squad, director Ruben Fleischer also talked to IGN about his plans to bring the classic video game Spy Hunter to the big screen.

IGN: What was the draw for you to want to take Spy Hunter from games to the screen and what's your overall intentions for the piece?

Ruben Fleischer: For me, my favorite video game was Spy Hunter. I used to play it at the arcades when there were arcades all the time. To me, what’s great about the game in terms of bringing it to a movie screen is that it has a few key components, which are the car, an incredible theme song and the Weapons Van. But we don’t know much about the person in the story, it’s just kind of like this driving game. But I love driving movies and car chases as much as anyone. So I think we can use that as a launchpad to create our own kind of story. When I look at Bond or Bourne, they’re pretty serious and they’re not that fun -- I mean, they’re dark. They don’t have that kind of swagger of the old Bond movies where it was just about the exotic locations, the beautiful women and a sense of humor. I’m excited for Spy Hunter, to get to turn it into a really fun, sexy, funny franchise that will hopefully compete with some of those bigger ones in terms of the spy genre.

IGN: Do you have a rough idea of when it might actually go before cameras?

Fleischer: Yeah, we just pitched the story to the studio yesterday, and they liked it. We got a couple of nods, but we don’t even have a script yet. We’re still in the very early stages, but I think there’s a lot of excitement just because of the title, and also the opportunity to share a new spy franchise with the world.

IGN: Do you see this as perhaps a star-driven film, or do you think the concept itself would allow you to cast whomever you’d like in the lead role?

Fleischer: That remains to be seen. I think stars are good for movies, but I think it’s going to live or die by just how awesome the car is and how exciting the story is, the twists and turns and romance and the action of it all. But having done three movies now, I am fully aware of the benefit of working with movie stars. It just focuses a lot of attention on the film, in a good way.

IGN: Would it still be Alex Decker, the character from the game?

Fleischer: Yeah, we’re using the name, because he should have a name. But unlike Lara Croft or something, you can’t really tell what he looks like or what his backstory is or anything like that. It’s cool to use it just as a launch pad and create our own story.

Source : ign[dot]com