As many of you know, I’m a weird guy. Not weird in the "I like to bend a kid over" way but in a "man, he surprised me that he owns all the books in the Manitou series" or a "I didn’t expect a guy who runs a geek website to be so into playing and following baseball" sort of way. A similiar weirdness must have been at play when, after a chance meeting with a man named Daniel Jevons led to a quick and wonderful friendship led to a conversation where I was asked what video game property most excited me for the purposes of creating a feature film.
"Jagged Alliance", I said. Without a hesitation.
Fast forward almost a year of discussions, treatment scripts, and a lot of paperwork and the following press release hits the world:
Strategy First Partners with Union Entertainment to Develop The Jagged Alliance Feature Film!
Nick Nunziata Signed To Develop and Produce Movie
MONTREAL, March 8, 2007.
— Software publisher Strategy First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of
Silverstar Holdings, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SSTR), has partnered with Los
Angeles-based video game and film production company, Union
Entertainment, to adapt Strategy First’s hit video game franchise
“Jagged Alliance” into a feature film. Union and Strategy First have
signed on Nick Nunziata (Grizzly Park, Meg) to help develop and co-produce the project.
The
original “Jagged Alliance” game was released in 1994 and has spawned
five sequels, with another currently under development at Strategy
First.
The project’s title, “Jagged Alliance”, describes the
cutthroat relationships between members of a lethal mercenary team
whose only true allegiance is to the highest bidder. Each a specialist
in his or her own discipline, these operatives know that in order to
survive their missions, they must rely on, but never dare trust, each
other. The team is assembled from the best of the best by the Alliance
of International Mercenaries, an apolitical private organization with
its own covert agenda.
“‘Jagged Alliance’ is high on character
and action, but with a dark humor that fans relish,” says Union
President Richard Leibowitz. “‘Jagged Alliance’ has a solid premise,
and its character-driven game story makes it much better suited to film
adaptation than many other game properties. Those elements are key to
successful game-to-film translations.”
“Jagged Alliance is a
great game franchise with dynamic characters and personalities that
belong on the silver screen. This project is a brilliant take on the
property and we anticipate a truly original picture coming out of this
series.” says Emanuel Wall, Strategy First’s Business Development
Manager.
ABOUT UNION ENTERTAINMENT
Union Entertainment
is the only talent management and production company specializing in
video games today. Based in Hollywood, California, Union has been
instrumental in designing, packaging, writing, developing and/or
producing video games that have collectively amassed more than
half-a-billion dollars at retail.
ABOUT NICK NUNZIATA
Nick Nunziata is Producer of the upcoming horror films, Grizzly Park and MEG
for New Line Cinema. In the late ‘90’s Nunziata launched CHUD.com which
has become one of the Web’s most popular and reliable sites for film
news, opinion, and discussion. The first CHUD.com movie, 11 Colonels ATTACK! is being prepared for a summer 2007 start date and Nunziata’s KrakenHeads label is readying several comic books for early 2008.
ABOUT STRATEGY FIRST
Strategy
First Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Silverstar Holdings (Nasdaq:
SSTR), is a leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment
software for the PC. Founded in 1990, the Company is well known for its
proprietary groundbreaking titles, such as the award winning Disciples,
Jagged Alliance and Space Empires series of games, which are under
continuing development. Simultaneously, Strategy First continues to
publish many of the industry’s major titles, winning numerous awards
for games such as “Hearts of Iron”, and “Galactic Civilizations.”
Recent offerings include top releases such as “S.C.S. – Dangerous
Waters™” and “Space Empires V.” The Company provides a unique
alternative for independent developers seeking to market their games to
a worldwide audience. www.strategyfirst.com
ABOUT SILVERSTAR HOLDINGS
Silverstar
Holdings Ltd. is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: SSTR), focusing on
acquiring controlling positions in high-growth retail-driven and
fee-based electronic game businesses that stand to benefit from the
economies of scale generated by the Internet and other
technology-related platforms. It currently owns Empire Interactive PLC
and Strategy First Inc. as well as a stake in Magnolia Broadband.
Empire Interactive PLC is a leading developer and publisher of
interactive entertainment software games such as Starsky & Hutch,
Big Mutha Truckers, Ford Racing and FlatOut. Empire’s products are
delivered on both console and PC platforms. Strategy First Inc. is a
leading developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software for
the PC. Magnolia Broadband is a fabless semiconductor company and
innovator of radio frequency (RF) solutions for the cellular industry.
Strategy First’s Jagged Alliance series, primarily Jagged Alliance 2, has led to some of my most memorable and favorite moments as a gamer who’s been doing it pretty hardcore since the dawn of the medium. The design, humor, strategy, combat, and overall tone of the game was unique and lends itself greatly to film. The thing that excites me most about it is that it’s totally character driven and an ensemble very much in tune with stuff from the late 60’s, early 70’s, and a few choice entries from the 80’s. It’s a really fun and loose and cynicism-free chance to tell a story about mercenaries. There’s also a unique spin we’re taking with how the story is told that I think will really click with an audience. No shit.
So, stay tuned. More to come…