Shadow of the Colossus Writer Speaks Out

Justin Marks, the man tasked with turning Shadow of the Colossus into a screenplay, wants you to give the SotC movie a chance.

Marks, who previously worked on Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, admits that adapting games into movies doesn’t always work. “I think many of the games haven’t worked as movies because it’s hard to find the right game. There are very few that lend themselves to movies,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

And Shadow of the Colossus is one of them? Marks thinks so. He says the minimalistic nature of the story, which features a young man riding a horse and killing giant creatures to save his beloved and not much else, makes it easier to adapt this game rather than others with more fleshed-out worlds. “With a lot of games there are so many elements in the universe you spend your time tearing down and tearing down,” he said. “What’s nice about this game is that it’s so sparse so you can start building right away.”

That’s nice, but building things that weren’t there in the first place is the easiest way to alienate fans. Marks, however, guarantees that he’s trying to avoid adding typical Hollywood clichés like a silly sidekick.

Still, Marks is obviously looking at a wider audience than gamers exclusively, and he thinks that, when it comes to having mainstream appeal, SotC is the perfect fit. “With a lot of games you’re caught trying to please the fans and the mainstream audience,” he said. “What’s so nice about this game is that it’s all seen through such an adult lens, so that what pleases the fans also pleases a wider audience.”

It might be hard to not immediately write this movie off, but we still haven’t heard anything concrete about what it’s going to be like. So let’s save our facepalms for another day.