SAW: The Video Game's Producer David Cohen was interviewed by OMG Horror on the upcoming SAW game for the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the PC. It sounds fairly promising despite the stigma associated with movie-to-game adaptations.

Funcom product manager Erling Ellingsen in the Leipzig Games Convention reaffirmed that the upcoming Conan movie from Lionsgate will have some pretty close ties to their MMORPG, Age of Conan. Details are still sketchy, and they've a lot of hurdles to overcome yet.

Disney Interactive Studios recently voiced its stance regarding video games, but what about the other movie studios out there? Are they just as enthusiastic about licensing out their movie rights? Or do they actually publish video games themselves?

More on the status quo in the full article, right after the jump.

Okay, so HD DVD is as good as gone, but what does it matter when Microsoft's offering a bunch of hi-def content on Live? A new batch of offerings is coming in for March, with a little something for everyone. The boys of South Park are back for those who like humor delivered in cutout cardboard figures. There's also something for those who like their tissue boxes close at hand, with new seasons for Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. Check out the full article to find out what else is coming for Xbox Live this March.

Now that we're in the movie-to-game mood in the meantime, here's one for turning tables: news coming in from Hollywood has Lionsgate's movie adaptation of Eidos Interactive's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC) starring no other than Bruce Willis of Die Hard fame and Billy Bob Thornton of Pushing Tin and Armageddon fame.

Eidos and IO Interactive's latest franchise seems to be picking up much hype in Tinsel Town, but will it match up to that of Eidos' own Lara Croft Tomb Raider? Find out in the full article.

 

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men has officially been signed on to make the transition to the big screen. The producers are so excited about it that shooting for the movie will begin this Fall.

Kyle Ward's script must be really something to have inspired so much activity. Not only did it win out against another script but the movie has also attracted a lot of heavy hitters in Hollywood although no names have been revealed. According to IGN, an A-lister has his eye on one of the roles.

The new movie from Lionsgate will follow the video game's story about the violent journey of two men who meet, and escape, from death row. The game will be released this October for the PS3, the Xbox 360 and the PC.

According to a report by Game Daily, Brash Entertainment LLC has been pooling a hefty amount of resources to push out its first title since its recent establishment in Hollywood, California. The company, headed by former Massive Inc. executives, also backed by movie producer and co-founder Thomas Tull, is already at work on a title based on the movie "SAW" by Lionsgate Films.

 

FromUS$ 150 million in its pockets from its March debut, the company has now announced a step up in finances through ABRY Partners LLC, New York Life Capital Partners III, LP, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, and PPM America Private Equity Fund II, LLP to around US$ 400 million in total.

With these funds, Brash hopes to "transform the way great film creativity is brought to life in games." Thomas Tull, producer of the movie "300," is expected to keynote the 2007 Hollywood and Games Summit regarding simultaneous movie and game production issues and a likely positive trend. He also said:

To me, great movies and great video games, if well-made, can be two equally dynamic mediums. Both are immersive: both offer pure escapism. As a lover of films and an avid gamer, I find the opportunity to more closely align these two art forms very exciting.

The company has also announced that it has more than 40 licenses from five major film studios, ranging from upcoming children's animated movies to action-packed thrillers and horror films. Apart from their announced "SAW" project title, they have also reported to be working on 11 other games.

While there has been no official announcement on what platforms the "SAW" title is targeted for as of press time, we're thinking it's a safe be that it will come out on major console platforms.

Brash's producers have worked on titles like God of War, Twisted Metal, SOCOM II, and Medal of Honor.

   

With more consoles getting into more households, Hollywood is now picking up on the gaming industry. Thanks to the ever improving technology and game developers learning new tricks, games have been able to deliver cinematic experiences. This only means we can expect more game-to-movie conversions (or the other way around).

A few months back, Lionsgate Studios acquired the movie rights for Kane & Lynch. Now, Hollywood is also putting Broken Sword and Onimusha in the works, by CastleBright Studios and Davis Films respectively.

The Broken Sword movie will pick up where the first game, Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (Circle of Blood in the U.S.), left off. Series creator Charles Cecil with his team in Revolution Software will be deeply involved in creating the movie, while Producers Jay Douglas and Nav Gupta from the fame of "Level 7" and "Quantum Heist" will be spearheading their CastleBright Studios company.

Capcom's demon-slaying franchise will be coming to Hollywood led by director Christopher Gans of "Silent Hill" fame, with a whopping US$ 70 million budget. The thing is, the story will be about a "samurai warrior who embarks on a quest to save the woman he loves and the entire world from long prophesied demons." Looks like series fans will have to decide if Onimusha and love stories work well together...

Kane & Lynch may be a few steps ahead, but it's safe to say that all these titles won't be coming out 'til next year.

While the search for the actor who would play the role of Agent 47 in the movie-adaptation of Hitman continues, Lionsgate just bagged movie rights to another video game also, unsurprisingly, from Eidos Interactive.

Although the game is yet to be released later this year, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men caught the eye of the big-time movie distributor. The upcoming game doesn't seem to be making much fuss, so why is Lionsgate interested in it?

The shooter game has now-defunct mercenary Kane teaming up with schizo-freako Lynch who meet each other on death row. While waiting for their final sentence, both of them are kidnapped by Kane's former team, and together they must dig up treasures (and horrors) from the ex-mercenary's past.

Well, given that psychotic backstory of Kane & Lynch and the track record of Lionsgate ("Saw", "Hostel", "Blair Witch Project", etc.), you'd see the connection why they want to make a movie out of it. Slice-and-dice hardcore action? You bet. Now if only they find their actors in time...

Pass the popcorn and roll up the curtains. Lionsgate just signed a deal with Microsoft, as they are now joining the Xbox Live Video Marketplace bandwagon. The said movie giant, responsible for bringing films like "Hostel" and "Blair Witch Project", is now to provide HD movies for download.

Lionsgate executive vice-president Jon Ferro comments:

...We are so thrilled to bring Lionsgate films to Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Bringing our content to this audience makes perfect sense and reflects our commitment to remain at the cutting edge of content distribution to new media platforms.

He also mentions how this partnership is going to be good for Lionsgate, seeing as how a lot of Xbox gamers are the type to watch "Saw III" or "Crank". Well, whether or not I were an Xbox gamer, the good times of all the gore-fest and bloody action in Lionsgate movies are nonetheless pretty to watch in hi-def eye candy.