Gears Of War Movie To Be An Origin Story? Possibly Taking Place On Emergence Day

"Emergence Day" should be a term familiar to Gears of Wars fans already, and it looks like movie fans may become very familiar with it. The term refers to that day that the series' subterranean villains, the Locusts,  started to wage war against humanity. Making Of recently spoke with producer Wyck Godfrey, who spilled some details on their current plans for the Len Wiseman-directed Gears film.

Apparently, they're currently trying to decide if the movie should take place in the time period of the games—in a war-torn post-Emergence Day world—or, if they should start off earlier and depict a peaceful time that's shattered by the events of Emergence Day.

Godfrey's full quote, after the break.

The hard part is how to make it into something that doesn't feel like a world torn asunder and people just in battle. I think we really want to focus on the idea of a world that's running well, and then it's Emergence Day and kind of make it impactful and immediate and the survival of those 48 hours as people survive Emergence Day. It's more like 'Cloverfield' or something like that. Because trying to tell the epic story of an alien planet that's living in a horrific environment just feels like the wrong mood right now.

I'd rather they try to expand upon the history hinted by the games, instead of just trying to turn the games' threadbare plot into feature films. Gears was never a game that I played too much for story (although they tried to aim a bit higher with the second game), but the series did feature a rich world that hinted at an interesting history.

The biggest problem with this adaptation isn't the source material—it's director Len Wiseman. I'm downright apathetic towards the Underworld films, and Live Free or Die Hard didn't help to convince me that he's all style and no substance. You'd be hard-pressed to call anything in that film gritty, which doesn't give me much confidence for the military and post-apocalyptic elements of Gears.

Discuss: What time line would you prefer the Gears film to follow? Do you have faith in Wiseman as the director?

[Via Geeks of Doom]