Video game movies have had something of a rough road in Hollywood but that has yet to deter the interest from studios in making them or fans in wanting to see their favorite games adapted to the screen. One of the most anticipated projects for the last several years has been a film based on Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid franchise. Kong: Skull Island's Jordan Vogt-Roberts has been helming the project for quite some time, but the movie just took a massive step forward as it's being reported that the lead has been cast. Franchise hero Solid Snake is set to be played by Oscar Isaac.
This announcement, reported by Deadline, is all the more perfect because Oscar Isaac had previously stated that he was very interested in the role of Solid Snake and Jordan Vogt-Roberts had made it just as clear that he liked the idea. It seems that at some point this hypothetical concept became a real conversation, and now Oscar Isaac will really be the big screen Solid Snake.
Jordan Vogt-Roberts said back when Oscar Isaac made his interest known that casting wasn't a conversation at that point, but it seems to be almost a given that when Isaac said he was interested in the role, all the right people noticed. One wonders if anybody else was even seriously considered at that point.
The first Metal Gear game came out in 1987 and the franchise saw new life as Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation in 1996. The games combine action and stealth gameplay in a unique way but the real calling card of the series has been the storytelling. While the plot of the series is more than a little convoluted at this point, creator Hideo Kojima is a big fan of movies as well as video games and that's been very clear in the way the Metal Gear Solid games have been structured. And so seeing the games now become a movie feels right.
This is another huge blockbuster pickup for Oscar Isaac. He'll be seen next year in the new adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune. He's set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Moon Knight on Disney+, and now he'll be Solid Snake as well. And all this follows his appearance in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Clearly, Hollywood has found something it likes in Isaac, and fans largely have as well.
The script for the Metal Gear Solid movie is being written by Derek Connolly. While there are few specific details about the story, Jordan Vogt-Roberts had previously claimed that the film would not be based on a single game, but would rather combine a few different ideas from the games together. Of course, that was years ago, so it's possible things have changed.
Now that casting on the movie is underway, that would seem to indicate the project is finally moving forward toward actual filming. Perhaps that means some insight into what this movie will actually be is coming. Considering how, quite frankly, bizarre the game series could get, this movie could be quite the ride.
