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Firewatch movie in the works + almost 1m Firewatch copies sold to date

C

chadskin

Member
Good Universe is teaming with independent video game developer and publishing company Campo Santo to develop content for both video games and feature films.

The companies will create a home for talent to develop projects that can bridge both the video game and feature film worlds. Their first project with be a film adaptation of Campo Santo’s first video game, Firewatch. The critically acclaimed game, released in February, is a first-person experience starring The Walking Dead's Cissy Jones and Mad Men's Rich Sommer. In the game, set in the Wyoming wilderness, a fire lookout named Henry uncovers clues in the wilderness about mysterious occurrences and a shadowy figure that seems to watch him from afar. His only means of communications is via a walkie-talkie with his supervisor, Delilah. It has sold almost 1 million copies to date.

“When we met Good Universe we were floored by how they recognize, cultivate and produce incredible stories. It's rare you meet another group that shares so many of your values and makes the process of creating things even more exciting. We can't wait to see what we make together," said Campo Santo founder Sean Vanaman, who announced the deal with co-founder Jake Rodkin and Good Universe’s co-Founder Joe Drake and VP, International Akshay Mehta.

Don Karl at Perkins Coie negotiated the deal on behalf of Campo Santo. Dan Freedman negotiated on behalf of Good Universe.

"Finding extraordinary content is incredibly exciting and with the Campo Santo team, we felt an immediate simpatico with their utterly beguiling storytelling and amazing creative instincts," said Drake.
Click to expand...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/good-universe-campo-santo-team-932558
 
G

GravityInsanity

Member
200w.gif
 
G

Gnilres

Member
BronsonLee said:
Don't want a movie.

And Firewatch is my GOTY so far. It ain't gonna work.
Click to expand...

I don't understand this mentality. Why would you not want something that's completely optional to you?

Also, how does it run now? Loved the visual style but there were concerns when it was first released
 
D

DagnastyEp

Member
Bought it last week when it released on Xbox One, and completed it over the weekend. Really enjoyed it.

Not sure how that will transfer to a movie, but I'll be interested in checking it out.
 
B

BronsonLee

Member
Gnilres said:
I don't understand this mentality. Why would you not want something that's completely optional to you?

Also, how does it run now? Loved the visual style but there were concerns when it was first released
Click to expand...

Because I control everything

It runs fine now. PS4 was rough at launch but they patched it out
 
B

BeardyChan

Member
What is Firewatch anymore?

I played the game recently after all the talk about it and just don't get why it got the praise it got. I just don't see it working out better as a movie either.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
I'm not real bullish on this, despite liking the game and the studio. Take the interactivity out and I don't think you're left with much. Still, good luck to them I suppose.
 
D

Dominator

Member
I liked the game, didn't love it.

I think this story can work exponentially better as a film, so I'll definitely watch it.
 
N

Neoleo2143

Member
Might not be a bad idea if they really think about adapting various scenes in the Woods, if anything, the abrupt transitions between days might work better for a Movie.
 
D

DarkConfidant

Member
I think being a game is what made the story work so well. It's going to be weird when it's a movie that you're not interacting with.

Maybe they'll make it scarier?
 
H

Heckler456

Banned
Hektor said:
I don't really see the point in adapting something that's already so short and accessible.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of people who don't play video games and who might be interested in this type of story. So they could widen their market by pouring the story into a new medium.

Beside that, the creator of the movie might also really like the story, and he might be interested to put his own creative stamp on it, but again, in a different medium.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
Is this why Sean hasn't been on Idle Thumbs? I'm not up to date but started listening again recently. Panic were so smart bank rolling Campo Santo. I wonder if they are going to get paid too.
Dweebo said:
The movie will never come out but congrats on that many copies sold! Had a great time with the game.
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The film doesn't need a big budget or cast. I can't see why they can't make some good progress on this.
 
G

Gai Murakumo

Member
I do applaud the success, good for them. My question is why does everything get a movie in the works deal but ultimately will not see the light of day due to production hell problems?
 
C

careksims

Member
Congrats to Campo Santo, but it was one of the biggest disappointments this year for me. :/ I can't really see it as a movie.
 
L

Lord of Ostia

Member
Carlius said:
please tell me why. neve rplayed it but i am very interested in hearing about this.
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If you enjoy 'walking simulators' then this one is one of the better ones. Fantastic dialogue between the two characters that feels incredibly genuine, it's basically the only time I've played a game and found voiced dialogue to actually sound like a real conversation between two people. The overarching 'plot' got a lot of criticism because it didn't really go anywhere, but I kind of enjoyed the game for that. It feels like something that would really happen, the resolution isn't all that fulfilling but considering how often that is the case in real life I think that's what they were going for.
 
V

Visualante2

Member
Gai Murakumo said:
I do applaud the success, good for them. My question is why does everything get a movie in the works deal but ultimately will not see the light of day due to production hell problems?
Click to expand...
Pure speculation, but sometimes when it's a big franchise like Bioshock. The film studios buy the rights just to stop their competitor having the chance to develop it.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Good for them. I could see an adaptation working well.

Gai Murakumo said:
I do applaud the success, good for them. My question is why does everything get a movie in the works deal but ultimately will not see the light of day due to production hell problems?
Click to expand...
It's not like this is unique to video games. All manner of books, comics, and other properties get optioned but never materialize into movies. Same for original scripts that get put into development, too.
 
F

Fractal

Banned
I'm very skeptical about video game movies so that piece of news hardly does anything for me, but I'm glad to hear of their success. Loved Firewatch, the game looked great and was very relaxing to play.

The Henry and Delilah interaction was great as well, but I was left a bit disappointed by later parts of the game. The way the story unraveled wasn't exactly satisfying, but still, I'll remember it fondly... as far as "walking simulators" go, it's definitely among the best.
 
A

Anno

Member
Wow, that must feel pretty good for CS. I'm not entirely sure what a movie version looks like though unless it's literally just the two actors reading a canonized version of the script, which seems really weird.

Great news on the sales, though. That's pretty impressive.
 
K

kiguel182

Member
Totally deserved it. I'm curious if they do a movie since I think this game really used the medium really well to set up its mood and I don't see how that will translate to film.
 
M

Mr. F

Banned
I really, really wanted to like Firewatch more than I did, but it kind of left me cold. I ended up not enjoying my time with it all that much, particularly due to the way the story sorted itself out in the second half. Also, for as much praise as the dialogue got I found it too often dipped into smarminess/sarcasm in Henry and Delilah's senses of humour in a way that was more irritating than endearing.

Not really sure what to make of a potential adaptation since that would likely carry through the plot and character traits I didn't really dig at all, but good for them all the same I guess.
 
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