The videogame adaptation is climbing back to the top of studio lists, with recent weeks seeing popular properties like Halo, Hitman and Alice hacking their way through development hell.  And let’s not forget Uwe Boll’s upcoming Bloodrayne, which we all know will totally ROCK.  So who’s next?

Fugitive undercover cop Max Payne, that’s who.  He’s a man with nothing to lose. His wife and kid are dead, he’s been framed for murder, and both the police and the Mafia want his head, all while the city is being buried beneath the worst snowstorm in history.  With its gritty atmosphere, hard-boiled story, cinematic flair and obvious John Woo influences, the game aches for the Hollywood treatment

Fox will turn the gloriously violent videogame into a feature film, along with Collision Entertainment producer Scott Faye.  The game itself, from developer Remedy Entertainment, is a third-person action title with a twist — Max can enter the now-ubiquitous "bullet time", during which all on-screen action slows and he can dodge or aim at his foes at will.

The game also spawned a fantastic-looking sequel, the tragic love story Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, although elements of that follow-up probably won’t make their way into the Fox film.  The property was previously set up at Dimension, who’s been relinquishing a number of things lately (including the aforementioned Alice) that are getting swiftly snatched up by others.

The sun went down with practiced bravado on our message boards!