Uwe Boll goes postal

When video game developer Running with Scissors released a title called Postal in 1997, it created so much controversy that self-righteous wankers censorious politicians such as Senator Joe Lieberman immediately demanded that it be removed from store shelves. Lieberman and friends eventually got their way; Postal was actually banned in several countries. Now RwS has announced that it's letting Uwe Boll make a movie out of the game, with a targeted release in 2007. Boll has made a (mostly bad) name for himself directing (mostly unsuccessful) films based on (largely obscure) video games. His Alone in the Dark, starring Christian Slater and Tara Reid, sat on the shelf for ages; but then again, as Will Carlough wrote last week on Slate, it wasn't exactly based on a beloved title to begin with ("What system did Alone in the Dark come out on, Atari Jaguar?"). Running with Scissors' CEO, for his part, is confident that Boll is the right man for the job. “He understands the subject matter and has an appreciation and affinity for controversy and political incorrectness," Vince Desi says. Boll himself agrees that P.I. is, in fact, his M.O. "The film will have all the political incorrectness and American craziness from the game, wrapped around an action thriller story line," Boll said. Ah, yes - American craziness. Cool cool!

Cinematical's kissing cousin Joystiq doesn't usually put too much stock in Boll, but, as Conrad Quilty-Harper puts it, this might be one game that the director has a hard time screwing up: "Ironically, Postal has the bare minimum of what you’d call a plot, so at least that reduces the chances of Boll changing anything too much and annoying fans of the game."