With the name “Ubisoft Movie Studio”, one would think French video game developer Ubisoft had gone the Marvel Comics route and created their own movie studio to take their various IP to the screen. That doesn’t appear to be the full story, as The Los Angeles Times clarified Variety’s earlier report last week.
Turns out Ubisoft Movie Studio will be a middle-man, acting as a deal-maker with various film companies on behalf of the studio in bringing their creations into film production. “A boutique division within the French game company whose charter is to seek Hollywood studio partners to bring its popular game franchises to the big screen,” described Jean-Julien Baronnet, who is still acting as the outlet’s lead officer.
This isn’t just a one-stop shop for any production house wanting to cash in on profitable transmedia properties, as Baronnet clarified while laying out the studio’s three requirements for making a deal: “The first is creative control, so we can be involved in the scriptwriting and production. The second is a royalty structure that ensures the financial security of our investments. And the third is a level of comfort that the production is of the highest quality.”
Still excited to possibly see Sam Fisher up on the silver screen, E-Gs? Or is having the studio act as just an intermediary mean that little while change in video-game movies? Comment below!
Well it is good that they are taking steps to make sure any films based on their IPS will be good. This is something that every studio should do, so we (the consumers) don’t end up with crappy video game movies as much as in the past.