Man, has this day brought us news of film-based video games aplenty -- one of which you can play for free right now and the rest of which some of you simply can't wait for.

But you'll have to. Wait, that is. They haven't made the darn things yet. Sheesh, hold your horses already.

Trade publication Variety tells us of these titles over the course of two separate articles. One piece points out Universal's plan to crank out several games based on their properties, but only names their highest-profile property at the moment: Wanted. If any of you have seen the film (and a $123 million gross would suggest as much), then you know just how well it should lend itself to the format, what with the bullet curving and knife fighting and Angelina Jolie ogling.

I'm not exactly sure how the act of delivering silly little video games translates into tickets bought at the multiplex, but I suppose it works like this: Sony created the tie-in games, and now I'm telling you about them. So ... I guess the method works.

Anyway, it's a slow holiday weekend, which means you might have some time to waste on clicky little browser-based video games that are based on a pair of upcoming comedies. Click here for the Donkey Kong-esque misadventures on The Pineapple Express, or click here for the "whack-a-mole" game starring Step Brothers Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.

I'm definitely looking forward to both comedies ... but I'll just stick to my beloved Zuma, thanks. (Good luck making a movie out of that game.)

There isn't much you can't rely on in this life, but your favorite video games being turned into a movie seems to be something you can always count on. According to Joystiq, there is already talk of turning the best-selling game BioShock into a feature film. Joystiq reports that a trustworthy source at an as-yet-to-be named studio told them that the project has been garnering steam, and that big-wigs at Take 2 Interactive are already on board with the studio to bring the video game to the screen.

BioShock is set in a dystopian underwater city named Rapture in the year of 1960. The focus of the first person shooter is a man named Jack who has crash landed in the city and now is left with the daunting task of figuring out just what the hell is going on. The game was packed with plenty of style (tutorials are presented to the player in the form of vintage instructional films) and some pretty creepy characters. The game was praised for its open-ended game play and impressive A.I. The game has shipped over 1.5 million units already and Take 2 is already toying with the idea of turning the game into a franchise.

So like any game that is described as 'cinematic'; it was probably only a matter of time before talk of a movie surfaced. Already there is some speculation that BioShock would be another green screen extravaganza (like 300) to bring the world of Rapture to the screen. As we all know, video game flicks have never really lived up to their promise; it hasn't stopped studios from grabbing every title they can get their hands on. There is nothing official yet, but it would not surprise me in the least if BioShock is the next well crafted video game about to be turned into a crappy flick. So stay tuned to Cinematical to see if BioShock: The Movie becomes more than just idle Internet gossip.

[via CinemaBlend]

The word 'goth' can be very confusing these days, especially when talking about 'gothic' stories. For example, when Variety mentions that something is a 'gothic love story', is it referring to gothic in the sense of late-18th century British literature? Or is it referring to the current subculture of people who wear dark clothing, listen to bands like Bauhaus and have an interest in macabre subject matter? At first I thought it meant the former in its report that JT Petty was signed on to helm an adaptation of a Japanese novel -- and manga -- titled Goth. But now that I've read about the novel, it is clear to me that this is all about the subculture. The novel, written by Otsu-ichi, is about two teens, both of whom are obsessed with death, one with a fetish of standing in locations a body has been, who end up solving a number of murder mysteries and taking on the serial killer responsible.

Petty has written and/or directed a few horror features, including the straight-to-video Mimic: Sentinel (aka Mimic 3), but he may be best known as the writer of Batman Begins ... the video game. He has also scripted the Tom Clancy-created Splinter Cell games and is set to write the screenplay for a Splinter Cell film. Next up, though, he's got a horror-western titled The Burrowers, which has just recently finished shooting. Goth will be produced by Lauren C. Weissman, Jennie Lew Tugend and Shinya Egawa, all of whom worked on the movie Dance with Me, as well as on Norio Tsuruta's Masters of Horror episode "Dream Cruise".

Considering how popular the gothic subculture continues to be (if it had a tagline, it'd be something like "keeping Hot Topic in business since 1990"), Petty would be smart to up the influence on this adaptation. Obviously he'll be wanting to feature a hot goth-rock soundtrack and a lot of hot goth-chicks, who have always been able to transcend the subculture and appeal to non-goths, boys and girls alike, with their distinct, hyper-sexualized fashions.

Even though Peter Jackson might have been among the first directors with designs on "conquering the console", Steven Spielberg has become the next big-name director to catch the gaming bug. Play.tm has an interview with EA's Neil Young about the studio working closely with the famed director on 3 different games. Details are sketchy on the titles, but Young did say that one game will be about an "end of the world" type of event. Young also said that another game is being designed for the Nintendo Wii. The real shocker was that according to Young, "Steven's in the studio about once a week, anywhere from 1 to 4 hours; he swings by and he's in the office by about 8:30 and usually leaves like 11:00 or midday, it's everything you'd hoped the relationship would be but were nervous to ask upfront. It's really wonderful spending time with him...".

Spielberg obviously doesn't have a problem with multi-tasking; the latest Indiana Jones film has announced a "solid" start date, and he will also be bringing Tintin to Dreamworks. You have to wonder if those projects could suffer in light of his new passion for gaming. It really looks like Spielberg is a kid at heart, because like every other kid, he's busy playing video games when he has work to do.

When it comes to the cinema, Europeans do it better. Just look at any Hollywood remake of a European film if you don't believe me. Look how many directors made bad movies in Hollywood but made great films in Europe. Look how many of Hollywood's great films were made by Europeans. I don't mean to be so unpatriotic, but America is constantly getting it wrong at the movies. The latest case in point is National Amusements' new gaming service at their Showcase Cinemas in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It isn't exactly film-related, but a major fault with the movie industry in the States is with the theater chains, and one of the problems with this new service is that National Amusements isn't relating video games to cinema as much as they should be.

Earlier this month I reported that a multiplex in Belgium (it's in Europe) was launching a new gaming service, and I expressed my hopes that American theaters would follow suit. Unfortunately, the cinema in Ann Arbor is not offering a similar big-screen alternative for gamers. Their service, called CyGamZ, uses flat screen TVs. How this is different from the usual multiplex arcade games is that CyGamZ allows for multiple players and a high-speed internet connection. How this is different from your gaming at home is that it is more social. How this has anything to do with the movie theater experience is questionable.

I understand that theaters are in financial worry -- of course, I blame the studios -- and they need to find new ways of attracting customers, whether to the movies or to some other moneymaking idea, but setting aside a division of the floor to Xbox and Playstation gaming is not the answer. Other alternative plans, such as live concerts and sporting events, have made sense because they still utilize the auditorium and the big screen. Is National Amusements afraid to gamble on renting out an auditorium for gaming? Or are they unable to even think of such an idea because of studio influence on screen use? Whatever the reason, American theater chains need to figure something else out, because while Belgium's XL Gaming is innovative and smart, CyGamZ is desperate and stupid.

These days, Hollywood has taken the much-coveted built-in-audience to new levels, acquiring properties wayyy before they arrive on the streets. A good example would be Joel Silver's latest venture; the famed producer has gone and optioned Empire, an upcoming book and video game series, with hopes to adapt the thing into a feature film (dare I attach the word 'franchise' to the end of that last sentence).

Along with author Orson Scott Card, Donald and Geremy Mustard (of Chair Entertainment Group) worked to develop a video game prototype of Empire, which will first be seen in book form when it's released on November 28. Silver Pictures then snatched up the rights, and will work alongside Warner Bros. in an attempt to turn it into a huge action film. Oh, but not before the comic book. That's right, they're spreading this bad boy all over the place -- first the book, then the comic book, then the movie and, finally, the video game. All will take place within the same universe as the book, but at different points in the story.

Wait, you probably want to know what the story is about, right? Well, in the near future, the President is assassinated, the White House is bombed and the country is on the cusp on civil war. When all the blame is put on this one poor dude, he sets out to clear his name. Think The Fugitive meets the end of the world. I must say, it takes guts to put all your faith in a franchise as big as this before it has a chance to find an audience. What if the book fails? What if it doesn't grab enough attention? Let's keep an eye on this one and see if Silver's gamble pays off.

Growing up, I was addicted to my Nintendo video game system. I remember spending hours upon hours playing games like Super Mario Bros., Metroid and The Legend of Zelda. I mean, who needed friends when you've got Link and, well, some chick dressed up as a robot? My earliest memory of Nintendo on the big screen was 1989's The Wizard. Starring Fred Savage as a runaway kid, hell-bent on winning a huge video game tournament, there was really only one reason to see the film -- it was unveiling the first images of Super Mario Bros. 3. Since this was before a little thing called the internet, us Nintendo freaks had to see The Wizard in order to sneak a peak at the game. C'mon, I know that brings back memories for you 80's kids.

Well, times have changed and Nintendo is finding new ways to market themselves through film. Their latest smooth move comes via the new flick Stormbreaker, in which a 14-year-old boy is forced into Britain's secret intelligence service (MI6) after the death of his uncle. Since the kid is a super spy, you know he's going to have some nifty gadgets, right? Turns out, it's his Nintendo DS playing the role of sidekick in the film. Who knew one could use their Nintendo DS for eavesdropping, wiretapping and, when applicable, as a smoke bomb? See, the thought process here is the bad guys will see a 14-year-old kid playing video games when, little do they know, he's actually saving the world. Oh, and don't worry Mom and Dad, Nintendo has said that they do not intend on making these features available on the actual DS ... though I imagine you geeks will find a way somehow.

You might recall us mentioning Uwe Boll's hilariously bad BloodRayne around here a time or 12. The ill-fated film cost an estimated $25 million to make, but made only $2.5 million at the box office, a total that I'm sure came as a complete shock to everyone involved. "But ... but ... Uwe Boll directed it! How can it fail?" Despite the box office disaster, however, DVD distributor Visual Entertainment is determined to turn the movie into a hit in the home video market, and they've got a plan to trick people into bring BloodRayne into their homes: package it with a video game.

Since the movie was based on a video game in the first place, it's logical that gamers are pretty much the only people who might be interested in buying it on DVD (though since none of them went to see it in the theaters, Visual might be being a bit over-optimistic here); will they want to play BloodRayne 2 badly enough to drop $26.95 on it? Whether buyers watch the DVD or use it as a coaster, the purchase goes into the charts as a sale for the movie. I know nothing about the BloodRayne game, but this sounds like a brilliant idea by a small distributor -- and what better movie to test the marketing power of packaging a game with a DVD than one that nobody wants to see? If the package sells, you can be sure we'll see a lot more crappy game-based films on shelves with the games in question.

You hear a lot about how violent video games are turning our kids into monsters, but even with all its guns and drugs an whores, Grand Theft Auto's got nothing, bad-influence wise, on The Movies. Why in the world would we want a nation full of baby Harvey Weinsteins running around?

The brainchild of "game legend" Peter Molyneux ("I woke up at 5:00 a.m. one cold January morning with the thought, `Why on earth has no one ever made a game about the movies industry? I then woke up my girlfriend, asked her the same question and she quickly told me to go back to sleep."), The Movies turns each player into a studio head, and allows them to actually shepherd a film, from conception to casting, from budgetting through cutting. According to Molyneux, there are several different ways to create a project, depending on the player's desired level of involvement. "You can commission a script, place it on a set, shoot it and have a computer generate a movie in about 15 seconds. Alternatively, you can customize your script, choose your sets, select scenes from thousands that are available, cast your own unique stars and shoot the film. Then, in post production you can edit the action, add your own voiceover, sound effects and create your own unique movie." The game's publisher, Activision, is trying to promote The Movies as a product that democratizes the tools of production. To that end, they've set up a website for users to showcase their finished products. It's set up like a community – filmmakers bicker in the forums about their Sims-style actors and actresses,and viewers can promote their favorite films to the top of the charts. I don't have the correct software to watch anything, so I implore you to check out the offerings and tell us what you think.