Eidos Interactive, Creator of the Tomb Raider Franchise,
Signs With Columbia Pictures for Deus Ex Film
CULVER CITY, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Pictures has optioned
the rights to develop a science-fiction action-adventure franchise based on
the award-winning PC game "Deus Ex," it was announced today by Peter
Schlessel, President of Production for Columbia Pictures. The project will be
developed and produced by Laura Ziskin, who most recently produced Spider-Man
for the studio.
Columbia secured the rights to the title from Eidos Interactive, the
successful video gaming company responsible for developing such hit titles as
"Tomb Raider." Greg Pruss is currently writing the screenplay.
Like the popular game, the film will be set in the year 2052 as the world
confronts the threat of a crippling disease, economic collapse and the threat
of global terrorism. JC Denton is a highly-trained, nano-technology enhanced
counter-terrorist who is sworn to protect the government. But as he unravels
one conspiracy after another, he must decide between continuing to serve the
government or overthrowing it.
Eidos is already developing a sequel to the franchise and expects to begin
marketing and distributing the new game early next year. Ziskin brought the
project to Columbia Executive Vice President of Production Matt Tolmach, who
will oversee the project with Vice President of Production Rachel O'Connor.
Marc Evans will oversee the project on behalf of Ziskin's production company.
"With the brand awareness of the title and a fantastically conceived hero
at the core of this film, we feel we can develop Deus Ex as a potential
franchise for the studio," Schlessel said. "Our challenge will be capturing
all the story elements that have made this one of the most popular PC games
and delivering a film that has a distinctive look, execution and feel."
"Deus Ex is an exciting world full of great bad guys and good guys with a
movie star role in the character of JC Denton. There is an amazing ambition
and depth to the story and we're excited that it has attracted a writer of
Greg's intelligence and ability," Ziskin said.
Deus Ex was created by Warren Spector and named "Game of the Year" by over
35 game enthusiast magazines. More than one million units have been sold on
the PC and PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system formats. The sequel
to Deus Ex, DX2: Invisible War, will be launched at the Electronic
Entertainment Expo (E3) on May 21 through May 23, 2002.
"Eidos is thrilled to partner with Columbia," said Eidos Vice President of
Marketing, Paul Baldwin. "Deus Ex is one of our top franchises, and we look
forward to seeing it come to life with a top of the line studio like
Columbia."
About Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, is a
Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a
division of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based
Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production
and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content
creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment
acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of
new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of
filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be
found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com .
Eidos Interactive's Background Information
Eidos Interactive, Inc. is a leading developer and publisher of
interactive entertainment products for the PC, PlayStation(R)2 computer
entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube(TM) and the Xbox(TM) video game system
from Microsoft. For more information on Eidos Interactive's product line
visit http://www.eidos.com .
* "PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
SOURCE Columbia Pictures
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.eidos.com
CONTACT:
Steve Elzer, Senior Vice President, Media
Relations of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group,
+1-310-244-7142, steve_elzer@spe.sony.com; or Michelle Seebach of
Eidos Interactive, +1-415-547-1200, mseebach@eidos.com
|
