Look what’s back in the news again, Shadow of the Colossus. Sony’s been working on this video game adaptation since 2009 and, at one point, the studio even recruited Josh Trank to make it his Chronicle follow-up. Clearly that never panned out, but now the studio’s found someone else to helm the project, Mama director Andres Muschietti.
Muschietti hasn’t delivered a new film since Mama’s 2013 release, so Shadow of the Colossus would only be his second feature, but had Sony moved forward with Trank, he would have been in the same position as well, so perhaps harvesting new talent through a big budget film is a prime goal here. Hit the jump for more on the Shadow of the Colossus movie.
The Jungle Book’s Justin Marks was busy working on the script early on, but now Sony Pictures confirmed that Hanna co-scribe, Seth Lochhead, will pen the screenplay with Muschietti supervising. Muschietti’s wife and producing partner, Barbara Muschietti, is also on board to produce and will do so alongside Kevin Misher of Misher Films with Michael De Luca and Andrea Giannetti overseeing for Sony.
I’ve never played Shadow of the Colossus, but apparently the game centers on a young man named Wander who’s lost his lover, Mono. In an effort to bring her back, Wander and his trusty horse Argo trek into a forbidden land where he must beat 16 enormous creatures before they're reunited. Apparently Muschietti's a big fan of the game and is aiming to deliver a film version that stays true to the human story in it. De Luca stated:
"We knew we had our director once we heard Andy's take on the material – it was genius. The themes, characters and supernatural elements of the story have incredible international appeal with fans of the game in the millions."
Shadow of the Colossus was first released in North America back in October 2005 and since, it’s sold over 2.7 million copies worldwide. If you want to get a better sense of what the game is all about, check out the gameplay trailer below: