Producer Avi Arad Discusses ‘Mass Effect,’ ‘Metal Gear Solid’ Movies

Producer Avi Arad has already conquered the world of comic books. Now the Hollywood veteran is turning his attention to video games.

The Spider-Man producer recently discussed his career during a recent interview in Beijing. With Arad’s help, comic book movies have become huge box office draws over the past few years. He explained to Kotaku that he hopes to do the same thing with video games such as Mass Effect and Uncharted.

According to Avid Arad, he hopes to develop a flick that will do for games what Spider-Man and Blade did for comics.

“Converting games to film hasn’t been done yet successfully, though ‘Resident Evil’ did very well — it was actually a great series. I remember when Bernd Eichinger started it. I was working with him, I just couldn’t do that at Marvel but I had a good feeling about it, it’s a fantastic franchise,” Arad said.

The successful producer continued, “I think that film studios are bankers and filmmakers are risk takers and somewhere in between we meet on the battlefield. And the moment one video game movie goes through the roof, it’s the same thing that I’ve been through with comic books.”

While Arad believes Uncharted and Metal Gear Solid are easy cinematic adaptations, he still thinks Mass Effect could use some work. He explained that the outer space drama is still at least six years away from being ready to roll.

“It’s a big idea, that we, humans, are the least developed, the least trusted, it’s an interesting mirror image of our world, we are the aliens now. Love the project, it’s getting there, it’s been a lot of work,” he said.

Are you a fan of the films Avi Arad has produced over the years? Do you think he’s the right guy to bring Uncharted, Mass Effect, and Metal Gear Solid to the big screen?