"Heading to the Silver Screen:Magic:The Gathering"

"Heading to the Silver Screen:Magic:The Gathering"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. 

"LOS ANGELES, Calif. & PAWTUCKET, R.I. January 14, 2014 -- Twentieth Century Fox and Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) have joined forces to make a series of films based upon Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast’s fantasy-adventure property, MAGIC: THE GATHERING. Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past), whose Genre Films banner is based on the Fox Lot, will serve as the franchise’s creative steward and produce in close partnership with Hasbro."

Since work was getting in the way of writing I am just finally getting to write about this. And let me just say that I am greeting it with mixed feelings.

Finally someone realized that Magic really is a great product with a lot of history and stories to play around with. It also happens to have a very devoted fan base. They will be making a series of Films based on our favorite game. Magic:The Gathering.I am happy about the news but a part of me is dreading it as well.

The dread part stems from the awful experience of seeing fantasy films that well...suck.And a movie based on Magic that sucks well , that is just something that will be absolutely unforgivable . I hope they don't treat this as some sort of kids game.People literally grew up with the game and will be expecting a product that will probably have people asking them about the game.Or at least have people say , "So that is why you love playing that game so much."

There are concerns that the strategy game would not translate well to the big screen then again the game part of the franchise might not be the thing that the movie producers would be focusing on.The books and stories enhanced the gaming experience , I hope the movies they produce will do the same.  

Magic has a whole lot of heroes and villains to choose from. Each expansion has a plane and a theme of struggle to work on.All would look beautiful on the screen.I hope they focus on the Planeswalkers because inwardly every player has that desire. To traverse the planes and see the multiverse. To summon spells and creatures. I hope that they present the magic part well.

I want to see the planes come to life.Dominaria ,  Mirrodin , Kamigawa , Innistrad and Phyrexia in particular.Any story that they could come up with should show the uniqueness of the plane it is set on , though it would serve as a back drop , the treat of seeing it on the big screen is enough for me.

I wish that they do not mess up any of the characters because they are sacred to players from all around the world.Jace is easily the planeswalker of choice which they could build a story around.A lot of actors could play him too. There have also been talks that The Rock would make a cool looking Garruk. It is a great fit.Regardless of the actors they choose I just hope they treat the characters right. Much like the First and Second Batman Films from Chris Nolan and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

A lot of hopes but only the future would tell if this endeavor would make the game more recognized or the object of ridicule. I don't envy the creative teams position , they have fan girls and fan boys that they need to make happy and  they have millions to make if they do it right. They have both to lose when they come up with a poor product. The waiting begins.