Lorne elaborates to Edge on why focus on films
 

Courtesy of OddBlog:

Quote:There’s no new news of either Citizen Siege or an Oddworld film, but this still makes a good read. Although Lorne has spoken about a lot of these ideas before, especially recently, I’ve never seen him elaborate on the subjects quite so much. There’s also a nice photo of Lorne sitting outside what may or may not be his new eco‐friendly house. Thanks be to Xav for spotting it.

In a sense, the move to films has destroyed his own hypothesis on sticking with games and not films.
Maybe he planned the film move, since starting up a game would be cheaper, and help start them off before moving to films?

It’s always been Lorne’s dream to develop and direct films. I don’t know if he ever saw game making as just a stepping stone to Hollywood, but he still believes in games and their potential, and he’ still sticking with them, just not exclusively. His goal is to produce them and films in tandem.

Nice interview! Lorne looks so peaceful and different in that picture, he looks like he's having a great time, I wish I was there...
Is Citizen Siege set on Oddworld, or something totally different?

It’s not Oddworld. It’s set on a near‐future version of Earth.

It sounds pretty cool... I was hoping for an Oddworld movie, but I bet Lorne wants a break from it once in a while, so I don't blame him.

Did you see the comments that got? I can't help but think that we're partly responsible.

Forgive me if I missed something, but did Lorne confirm that the OWI film project that they've disappeared into is a Citizen Siege film when I wasn't looking?

Or; is this all traditional Lorne-talk of what-will-some-day-be?

No... more.... games...? *sob* i have learned so much from these games... will the movie do the same? Or will it just be a movie that's good.. but souless... This is the first time i've ever doubted lorne..

They're not making an oddorld movie first, but making one that's more likely to interest the general public, and help give them more of a head start than starting straight with Oddworld movies, which would be more obscur to some and perhaps be a bit too risky as a first movie.

Yes, more games. Just not yet.

Lorne makes very clear, in the middle to end of this interview, that he still believes games and films, and all entertainment, can be rich, fulfilling, and informative. When I met Lorne and Sherry, they weren’t any less devoted to the environment, human rights, civil liberties, and the kind of ‘hi‐tech’ shamanism the Oddworld games were/are.

Absolutely. Starting with a fresh IP will mean audiences aren’t alienated by Oddworld, and gives Lorne directorial experience that will hopefully make executives feel comfortable enough giving him full creative control of an Oddworld film.

When the films do come out, there's no doubt that we're going to have two competing canons.

A least it'll be fuel for GD.

As long as he keeps his vision and we get to see an Oddworld film one day as well, I won't be complaining.

Also, if an Oddworld film comes to the cinemas, I'll be able to see who likes Oddworld in Mansfield Woodhouse! ^.^ Knowing me I'll probably walk up to them and start firing rapid questions at them to see if they are real fans. I'm a betch! :p

Depends of what's your definition of "real fan".
This interview make me want more, I want to see that CS trailer he is talking about :D

Hm. I really don't know what to think about this. Lorne seemed so passionate about games before, certain that they would be the dominant entertainment medium for ages to come. And then....movies.

Movies to me don't seem all bad, although it is disappointing that the entire charisma of being in Oddworld won't be available to us anymore. 'Sides, once in an interview he said he already had all five story layouts. I feel sad that the stories won't be told to us in the form that they were told to us before, or even told at all.
Oddworld isn't just a videogame. It's a concept, a property universe. Only because the games will be mostly obsolete in a few decades, it doesn't mean it won't touch a few people so deeply they'll hold on for the rest of their lives. Transferring it to a different medium is tweaking the way Oddworld is supposed to function, in a sense.

But as long as the movie is well done (the Oddworld movie I mean) and has the same dark, mystical feel AO had, I'm pretty much for it. It’ll alert the world to Oddworld a little more, as long as Oddworld is revealed the right way, the real way like it used to be.

But they were originally written as movies. They were tweaked when they were made into games.

CS Trailers! Woo!
 

Me too! Yay! :fuzgrin:!

Seems be interesting to me. He feels so strongly against what the game company has brought itself down to.

Now to respond to Skillya, I think Lorne is trying to prove a point, rather than a flopping point of view. He is trying to say that entertainment can be a tool to reach and touch the media more than most. When I saw 'Rwanda Hotel', it was a powerful feeling to see a story that was being told. And a sad and dark one at that. I think I agree to you that Oddworld isn't a mear game, but a world, yet I think that how that world is told, shouldn't be live on your game system. Oddworld and the like are stories that need to be told, to set a little light on some people's minds. I believe that Lorne feels that in order for his stories to be told, he needs to branch out to new audiences. I mean, I practically don't know any friends that feels the same way about Oddworld as I, (except for my grandmother) because the current trend is to find games that you, not to tell you a story! People who see movies are a bit different. A lot of people want to see a nice story. People can see a nice story on a movie. Not really for a video game, because it doesn't have a repution for that. But if you can get people to understand the movie, maybe you can for the game.

So what I'm trying to say is that Lorne still knows about the Oddworld games we love. He just doesn't that want to have to go and make games that will eventually won't be able to make his stories possible. With movies, he can still make games that people had liked in the first place.

Bullshit interview, bullshit interview. I am grateful for Xavier's find though.

Oooo... Trailer for CS. This ought to be good!

Let's get a grip people. He's not saying that the trailer is going to be coming any time soon. He's saying that we won't know anything about the film until the trailer is released - probably in several years.

I hope sooner than several years! Maybe one or two years will be enough for the production of the film to finish... and then, still start an Oddworld one =P When will the first Oddworld film be released? 2010, 2015? Oh well I hope it's soon!

Oh, I don't doubt it. But still, at least we still have a trailer to look forward to. Even if it will take a few years...

It’s a film, of course there’ll be a trailer.

But when? That is the quesiton.

If they hurry, it'll probably be shittily and haphazardly done. I advise them to take their time. Hopefully I'll still be alive in 10 years....

Thanks Nate.

The side of me who is intrigued by the odd and the perverse that found a home in the Oddworld universe is slightly disappointed... only that there will be an even longer wait for any Oddworld films. But the much more logic business-side of me has to agree that Lorne's taking a smarter route starting off his film career with the clean slate of CS.

I don't understand why any of you are disappointed. This gives us all something to anticipate. I myself think that if and when they decide to finally create an Oddworld film, it will give us an entirely new perspective regarding that world. It will allow us to see it from a different angle, to become completely abosrbed into the story as it all transpires before us. What's more is we'll probably form an even stronger emotional connection to the characters, and we'll be able to fully understand their personalities as a result. Don't get me wrong, it does suck that there won't be any games out for awhile, but at the same time, it's exciting to think that we'll be able to view Oddworld in a completely different way someday.

Yes, and most of us knew it was coming already.

I don't know, maybe I'm taking my crazy obsession with the original Oddworld a bit too far, but (speaking for myself here)...I don't...want a different way. Oddworld doesn't seem to me like something that can be twisted and turned thisaway and thataway just so that more people will know it's there. Perhaps it's the sort of seeing-things-that-aren't-there-only-because-you-want-them-to-be-there phenomenon I'm experiencing, but it just seems that Oddworld was created, it's done. Messing with that creation, tweaking it just to popularize it, doesn't appeal to me at all.

I realize that if they release an Oddworld film, it'll still be Oddworld, and most likely the same story. But it's the story revealed in another way, a different way, that kind of bothers me. If I had my way in the world, I'd keep Oddworld the way it is (or was, rather, what with Stranger and all).

It's great if they do an Oddworld film, but I really want them to do it nicely, you know, well-done, that doesn't change the stories, so that people won't get the wrong idea of Oddworld. I feel paranoid that they'll make a mistake here and have a slip-up there the story will come out completely different. I just feel like the mom of a kid who's about to be introduced to some of her friends, you know, don't chew with your mouth open, don't squirm, use a napkin, etc.
Dammit I can be a bogan sometimes.

Oh, I know exactly what you mean, believe me. I don't want them to change the story at all. I too want it to be the same Oddworld we all know and love. What I meant was that we'll be able to see it happen before us without interference. I dunno, it seems like the story will come along more naturally that way, since we won't influence it ourselves.


I agree completely. I want them to do it right. This relates to my problem with there most likely being a remake of the Battle Royale movie in the future. I fear that they'll change the story, the characters, and the overall mood that the book was conveying. I don't want them to alter anything, or make a mistake, otherwise, the people who have never read the book before will not fully understand what it was truly about. That's why I'm so afraid of it being in the hands of a person other than the author.

And that's exactly why I don't want them to change anything if and when they create an Oddworld film. I want it to give me the same feeling that the games give me. I want to be sucked into it the same way I was when I played AO for the first time. What I don't want is for Oddworld to just become a crowd pleaser. I don't want it to change just so it could make more money. If that were to happen, I would never be able to view the series in the same way I do now.

I just never want it to change. Not for anyone.

The big fat PROBLEM is, in my opinion, there's absolutely no way that a movie can have the same feeling as a game. They're two completely different media (although they can intermix (heehee I made up a word) sometimes). But they're just different. It's very, very, very hard to bring movies up to the same level as videogames in regards to immersion, and I trust in what Oddworld can do and all, but I just don't think they're up to the challenge just yet. No film producer had done it before, imo.

'Sides, a film gets old after a while. You watch it, you like it, you watch it again, and on it goes until you know exactly what will happen next. With a game, though, the way you play it can always change. That's the big difference between the two media as I see it.

And then again, why make the change at all? Those people who became Oddworld fans from getting to know the real Oddworld won't be the same as the fans who get to know the movie Oddworld.
If it's a matter of money, I'm completely befuddled at why Lorne needs a financial boost.
He's got an authentic submarine door for his booze cellar.
Honestly.
Well that was back in 2004 but still...

I hear ya loud and clear Skillya! With the games you can go back and find secrets, and occasional glitches. But with the movies you know what's gonna happen next all the time after watching it a couple of times.
But I'm very excited about seeing an Oddworld movie, and I'd hate it if they changed the story.

But as far as they've told us, there will be games too, based on the movies...

They probably will do that, but still... I just hope that the movies are as good as the games. Even if they aren't, I'm still going to see them. (when they come out in the distant future. Or semi distant, not too sure.)

The films won’t perfectly emulate the atmosphere of Abe’s Oddysee. Even Abe’s Exoddus couldn’t do that. There’s an otherworldly spirituality to AO that really stands on its own. Fortunately, Oddworld is a much broader vision than that alone, and I can’t see any reason to believe the films won’t hit the Oddworld mark. They’ve been in conceptual development for over a decade, and dedicated post‐production for two years.

That said, you won’t see me telling you what to be a fan of. Just remember that the two Abe game plots were spliced apart from the original story and simplified.

with that being said, I'd love to see what they could do with a non-spliced story-line.

And yes, hardly anything can get close to the original feeling of AO. A red-wood in a forest of shrubs so to speak.

I agree with your last paragraph entirely, and I empathize with you on the rest. I’m an old fogey of a fan (Okay… not ancient, but I am 22, and was introduced to it when I was 14. That’s… dang, eight years of my life already! But, I digress.)

The first two games really had something special, some element of empathy that just grabs your heart. I think that this quality, the atmosphere of the world and the endearing and entertaining traits of the characters can be translated well and beautifully into film, especially given the fact that we have already played through Abe’s Oddysee in its video game form. Can you imagine a full, feature-length film with lovingly crafted characters that would look even better with today’s capabilities, captivating the audience for a big, juicy chunk of time? I and others have long discussed the idea of Oddworld feature films, down to the nitty-gritty of the music. I would just love an epic soundtrack, weaving the Oddworld theme here and there throughout but focusing on different instruments and moods for different species and settings.

Another thing about a film that I’ve discussed at length with my boyfriend (also an enormous fan of Oddworld) is that the story would have to be manipulated in order to suit an audience in the theatre, rather than an individual playing a game. There would need to be more character interaction, more unique situations that Abe gets into, and a more intimate journey with him through specific trials and encounters. In the games, we guide him through puzzles and take the journey with him that way, but it’s just not the only way that Abe’s or any other character’s story can be told. The repetitive aspect of gameplay just doesn’t work when you’re writing a story for a screenplay, a novel or any other sort of narrative, and in that respect, games are a different kind of balance between the motor/mechanical and mental aspects of puzzle-solving and the storyline. A movie would be the pure, raw story of Abe’s Oddysee, as Lorne probably dreamed up initially in his mind.

That’s not to say I don’t want more Oddworld games… I very much do. I’m just saying that I have been looking forward to an Oddworld movie for a heck of a long time, and if done right, it could be an amazing series of films.

It also could attract an audience that, although they might have appreciated OW in its PSX/PC heyday, just simply wasn’t aware of it then. This could be their chance to tell their story to the public…a reinvigoration.

That said, I haven’t been bothering to keep up with news articles like this, especially since Citizen Seige is next in line, not AO or any other OW game. I’ll just grow as an artist in the meantime, and if something happens to show up, excellent.

Wow. I just don’t shut up once I get going. Sheesh!