Yes Xavier but OWI would have to make some changes to the oddworld universe if they want a large audience. So there would be a downside to that if they do.

Not necessarily; AO sold over a million copies and there are plenty of of people out there who would like a dark, original, funny story, especially if it's CG.

It would most likely be rated PG-13 in the US.

Let's not forget that people are really eating up CGI films nowadays. I have no doubt that (providing it's advertised as Xavier said) quite a large audience will be turning up to watch, regardless of whether they've heard of Oddworld before or not.

As for rating, you usually find video games are a lot more laid back. Considering the language used, violence and dark themes typical of Oddworld they could be looking at an M rating (Mature 15+ in Australia). Then again I could be wrong, it's all just speculation.

TomFrogman FTW! Always nice to see new members that actually contribute meaningful conversation to a discussion.
With any hope. I believe it would be taken much more seriously by the public with a PG-13 rating. People tend to consider most animated films for children, and that's probably because most of them are targeted towards them. Hopefully Lorne hasn't lost his sick sense of humor.

I disagree, particularly in the case of all Pixar films, which are always expressly marketed as family films.
Then Dreamworks films, whose trailers are full of 'adult' jokes and references that children wouldn't catch.

Something that I personally feel works in Oddworld Inhabitants favor is that Oddworld is not gimicky and full of pop-culture references / music, relying moreso on its originality and storyline to get by, where as Dreamworks films (not so much Pixar) is. From a viewers perspective, this makes the movie so much more appealing to me. I guess, it could also be argued that these gimicks and pop-culture references are what's drawing audiences to these movies in the first place, however I hope that's not the case.

Another worthy mention in the Oddworld versus Dreamworks discussion is that I've found Oddworld's CGI to already have outdone that of Dreamworks. The animation and character design in most Dreamworks films really is nothing special at all, particularly that seen in 'A Sharks Tale'; an awful movie I wouldn't reccomend anyone seeing, by the way.

The main difference where film animation studios have beat OWI in the past is the size, detail and action in the environment. The FMVs tend to be fairly close up, with few wide environment shots. Compare to Finding Nemo and the many shots of the reef.

I don't think the FMV's really allowed for us to see much more than was shown, due to having to keep things short, sweet and to the point.

Essentially though, you are right although comparing any OWI FMV to Pixar's Finding Nemo seems a tad unfair to me. Finding Nemo was absolutely stunning and took many years to fine tune in a medium where graphics are the be all and end all. The FMVs in OWI's games, however, are just the icing on the cake and really didn't need to be anything special.

Again though, with the focus now being on animated CGI, without this silly 'gameplay' thing to get in the way, it's my opinion that we can set our hopes high for the first Oddworld feature film. Lorne's vision of Oddworld was always an epic one, and when you think about it the technology at his disposal in the realm of hollywood by far outdoes anything he could achieve on any console. This is a good move for OWI.

Why are we talking about two companies when in a one look oddworld already wins? And TomFrogMan what is this "silly gameplay" of which you speak off? 0.o

truthfully, Ao and AE are very dark games. u might not see it, but it's true. there might have to be blood in the movie just to give you that real feeling on how dark oddworld is.

I would rather it be a dark,twisted,ODD (of course), funny film with a not a kid rating, so that they can use everything in Oddworld.

Exactly, they need to make it like that. Otherwise, like you said, it would'nt fell like Oddworld.
As for ratings, I think it will be rated PG13. I also hope it will,cause if not, it won't get as much attention if it were to be rated below and possibly above that.

I also think it should be about Stranger for the reason stated. Also perhaps this could help us learn more about Stranger. Like his real name. Plus people want movies with action and suspence in my opinion. Correct me if I'm wrong (havent played the fist 2 games :( ) but when I was playing Stranger there was more of that than when I was playing Munch.

well, at least for me, theres always NC-17.

but i just don't remember there being an NC-17 movie in a long time, that rating choice kinda died out.

if the movie should not be a dark kinda movie with the humor, than i doubt it'll make the money it should. that's if the movie ever comes out.

I would think X or NC-17 would need to require some form of sexual events. That would be unlikely in the film, considering how there is next to no sex at all in the games.

"Next to"? There is absolutely none.

Well there are the drones which the queens depend on to make babies. It hasb't been witnessed, but it has been referenced, which gives the possibility that there is a lot of hooah going on in Vykker's Labs and Nolybab.

I have a good feeling OWI wouldn't mess up a movie like that, they can do alot with old technology, but now with the modern stuff we got, tssssssssssss...............

Daxter King- Stranger's name will never be revealed. He is based on the Clint Eastwood character from the man with no name trilogy. Oddworld has no intention of naming him.

I don't mind whether Stranger's name is released or not. Keeping his real name, if he has one, a secret seems a rather pointless endeavor, but at the same time revealing it shouldn't be gratuitous. After all, we've not learned either Abe's or Munch's full names in the games, yet.

I think it's rather obvious the game will be dark. Every Oddworld release so far has been dark, and I don't think they'd give up that defining quality on what's possibly their biggest shining. Who instilled this doubt?

Did anyone else think it weird when the Grubbs started referring to Stranger as 'Steef'. You'd think they'd have names for their protectors, or if they didn't, not to call them by their species...

Well, they called him Steef Dude. It'll be like me calling a talking goat "Goat Dude", after i've had a huge smoking session with a bunch of stoners. Then i'll be talking to anything, no matter goats.

I hope its not about stranger, i like him and all, but whenever i look at abe i see loads of posibilities about mudokons past and what happend before they was slaved,why there hand is on the moon, why they only have four fingers and all kinds of stuff that interests me. Thats why id rather see a film about mudokons than seeing stranger.

Their hand is on the moon by sheer coincidence if I remember rightly. It's just a random pattern of craters. Someone else can probably confirm or deny this. I'm 99% sure that's why though.

Lorne says it'll never be explained whether it's just sheer coincidence or some kind of supernatural omen. Obviously, it has spiritual significance to the Mudokons.

It's not a coincedence. There are 5 quintology heros, and each of them have thier own moon with thier paw (or foot or whatever it may be) on it.
So yes it is a "supernatural omen"

Yes, but not you or me knows that for sure.

And no, not every hero has their own moon. I was reading on Ask Alf that they would probably discontinue that moon paw thing.

He actually did have a name in all three films: Joe, Manco, and Blondie respectively. That slogan was developed by the advertising department.

Actually, it's probably a good idea to discontinue the moon idea. I always thought the ending of Munch where his moon is revealed seemed somewhat forced or just didn't sit right. I'm not an Abe fanatic or anything, but the moon-paws just seemed to be much more of an 'Abe thing'.

The Mudokons gathering around with their hand raised to the moon is fantastic imagery, and their paw just seems to look right. The Gabbit moon... well, I just thought it seemed a lot less special.

i agree they went to far with that but i think that it was kinda "right" to have that moon it just seemed like it fit to the story and it was amazing during the end when they all raised there hand to the moon.

Sorry if you misunderstood, the Mudokon Moon was deffinately a nice addition. It just seemed to fit and allowed for some great scenes as well as further insight into the background of their spiritual culture. It's the Gabbit moon that didn't sit right with me. Something about it just didn't seem... right.

a moon for each hero is still a good Idea to me.
I mean why would the 2 first heroes have a moon and not the others?

The quintology is about one of the most important story on oddworld, if not the most important one. I think some supernatural omens can show them some support :p

A good point Xavier. I guess I kind of wished Munch's moon was never shown. The supernatural omen of the moon seemed like such a great idea when we first read about it, but after seeing Munch's moon revealed I became less excited by the idea.

I'm wondering though, now that the quintology will likely be represented through film, do you think OWI will be going back and changing things they were less happy with? For instance, (I realise I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here) come time for the Munch's Oddysee film, do you think we'll see Munch revert back to the 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' type character that Lorne had originally intended and get to see what the story should have been rather than what it turned out to be?

On one hand it does render the rest of the series rather inconsistant, but on the other after hearing of how Lorne was dissapointed and discouraged by Munch's Oddysee, I think I would much rather see what he had always intended for. I believe in some interviews with Lorne, he stated that due to changes that had to be made in MO for the sake of speedier production, he would need to consider rewriting the rest of the quintology as a result. If this is true, then perhaps he has the chance to correct things this time round.

Just a few thoughts...

Mojoman- Those were nicknames given to him. Generalisations because of his appearence. Just like Stranger. No. They never gave him a name.

I agree with Tom. I'm quite eager know how Oddworld will do these films, whether he will go back to the original Abe story, or whether he will try to emulate the game as closely as possible.
This also brings up the titles - will they be named Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee (etc)? Though this might seem likely, it also connects them explicably to the games, and if the films are different with changed stories, then it could annoy people who find and buy the games as a result of seeing the films.
Personally, I'd rather they had different names. I always loved the name 'SoulStorm' as the original name for AO, but as it is a Quintology, it might be hard to find an easy way to connect the titles. Oddworld: [name]'s Oddysee is certainly easier.

You know I just thought of something. Most of the movie audience thinks that video games of the movies will most likely suck. This might mean that a certain people would want to stay AWAY from the games. Because they might think its just a horrible remake of the movie. Like a lot of games are. So if we are unlucky the movie might bring NEGATIVE attention for the games. Does anyone agree that this theory might be true?

You know what wills eriously suck? If the movie turns out to be a big hit selling out in theatres everywhere and scoring top numbers over the weekend. (not that) Then the gaming industry (like they do with every popular movie) will begin competing for a spot in creating a game based off the movie.

I agree completely. If Abe has his own moon, I think Munch and the other 3 should have one too.
Having thier own moon gives you the feeling that THEY ARE the quintology heroes, and not just some regular heroes like Stranger.

And yes, the Quintology IS the most important story of Oddworld. I mean, it has 5 parts to it and it was the very beginning thought for Oddworld (I think it was, correct me if I'm wrong)

But the question remains: Why aren't all moons visible from the start? I guess when the new ones appear, the locals say "Oh. We've been saved again.".