Electronic Arts has licensed the rights to develop a movie based on Army of Two to Universal Studios.
The Bourne Ultimatum scriptwriter Scott Z. Burns is handling writing duties, according to a Variety report, while EA itself is taking on the producer’s role alongside Scott Stuber, whose credits include The Break-Up and The Kingdom, and who had previously been set to produce the Halo movie.
“Because people experience the game in pairs, playing two guys who go against the world, Scott and I agreed this format presented an opportunity to make a great buddy film,” Burns said. “The ambiguity of these private military corporations lends weight to an intelligent thriller with relevance to what’s going on in the world right now. You have contractors with their own agendas, and two guys whose friendship supersedes all the politics.”
In a bit of an odd twist, Burns claimed the fact that he’s not a videogame fan was actually a positive point in EA’s eyes. “I told EA right off the bat I wasn’t a gamer, and that appealed to them because they didn’t want to simply replicate the game,” he said.
Army of Two has earned average reviews since its release in early 2008, but has nonetheless managed to sell over two million copies, and EA Games President Frank Gibeau has said a sequel to the game is in the works. Production on the Army of Two movie is set to begin sometime in 2009.
