Screen Gems Buys 'Devil May Cry' Rights; Kyle Ward Writing Screenplay

The Resident Evil series proved to be a monster hit (no pun intended) for Screen Gems and Sony. So the fact that the companies are going back to video games as the RE films get stretched a bit thin should come as no surprise. Appropriately, Screen Gems has even turned to a video game franchise that was born from a concept intended as a Resident Evil sequel. That would be Devil May Cry, the story of Dante, white-haired demon killer and trenchcoat lover.

Kyle Ward (Kane & Lynch) is the man chosen to script after Screen Gems and Sony went through a variety of possible writers. This is seen as a potential franchise, but what isn't as of late? Game publisher Capcom has already done a lot of the ground work, establishing the game series as a massive brand with comics, anime and toy spinoffs.

The question is: how the hell does anyone make a movie out of Devil May Cry? Dante is a cocky and very irritating hero at the center of a game that is less about story than it is striving for perfection in one demonic encounter after another. Remove the gameplay, which is filled with high-flying acrobatic multi-weapon attacks, and you end up with a series of cutscenes that, even in the context of the game, just aren't that interesting. I can see why people love the gameplay — it is extremely challenging, and nailing high ratings as you battle the fierce, relentless AI is satisfying — but I can't see wanting to watch two hours centered around the character. The acrobatic moves might look cool on screen, but you can see those in the other media offshoots of the game, too.

But that global franchise probably renders me in the minority. I don't see any reason to watch the Resident Evil movies at this point, either, but global box office proves that a lot of people do. Screen Gems is inevitably hoping to get the same audience with Devil May Cry. But will Paul WS Anderson get involved? [Variety]