It seems like Oscar Isaac is everywhere these days, starring in all kinds of exciting projects from a galaxy far, far away to gritty Netflix original movies to animated adaptations of beloved properties to the desert planet of Arrakis. However, despite his presence in genre films, Oscar Isaac has yet to star in a video game movie. When asked if he ever would, Oscar Isaac had a very intriguing answer. He said:
Metal Gear Solid, that's the one. I'm throwing my hat in for that one.
Oscar Isaac not only showed interest in starring in a video game movie, he didn’t need to be pitched ideas about possible roles or properties. The actor who plays Poe Dameron in Star Wars: Episode IX already knows what movie and what character he would like to be in the running for. As he told IGN, Oscar Isaac wants to be in the Metal Gear Solid movie based on Konami’s action-adventure/stealth series from creator Hideo Kojima.
Oscar Isaac doesn’t want just any old role in a Metal Gear Solid movie either; he also made it clear to IGN that he wants to play none other than the series’ primary protagonist, Solid Snake. By throwing his hat into the ring for Snake, Oscar Isaac has publicly let everyone know that he is interested.
When you put something out into the world like that, sometimes the world responds, and that is the case here. Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who is attached to bring Metal Gear Solid to the big screen, heard about Oscar Isaac’s interest and it turns out that the feeling is mutual and has been for a while. Take a look:
As you can see from Jordan Vogt-Robert’s tweet, when BossLogic made some fan art of Oscar Isaac as Solid Snake last year, he didn’t come up with the idea all by himself. Jordan Vogt-Roberts was interested to see what Oscar Isaac would look like as the character and he contacted the prolific artist to see what he could come up with. The result was quite convincing and makes you wonder if Oscar Isaac himself saw it and that planted the seed in his mind.
Of course, both the director and actor's interest do not alone cement a deal or bring this movie to the big screen. Still though, it’s a start and always nice to see an actor and director both championing the former for a role. The casting process hasn’t even begun, but if/when it does, Oscar Isaac would seem to be in a good position to land the role of Snake. Jordan Vogt-Roberts says that the ball is the always-busy Oscar Isaac’s court now.
It’s unclear how close Metal Gear Solid is to happening. Jordan Vogt-Roberts has been fighting for it, and last we heard, the director’s Kong: Skull Island scribe Derek Connolly had been brought aboard to write the script. Derek Connolly was also a writer on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and this year’s video game adaptation Detective Pikachu. Perhaps if Oscar Isaac comes aboard that will help this difficult to adapt property get a shot on the big screen.
Video game movies have been plagued with a myriad of problems and just general awfulness since 1993’s Super Mario Bros., and no adaptation to date can truly be called a ‘great movie.’ The challenges to making a great video game movie are many for any property, but perhaps especially so for the weird and mythologically dense Metal Gear franchise whose protagonist is an icon and one of the most recognized characters in the medium.
Oscar Isaac is an exciting candidate for Solid Snake, albeit not the only one. A great actor doesn’t make a great movie, as Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender can attest, but it definitely doesn’t hurt.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend and we’ll keep you updated on all the latest about the Metal Gear Solid movie. Check out our release schedule to keep track of the biggest movies headed your way this year.
