Wow, of all the years thinking about how awesome various video game movies could be if done right, I never once considered MYST. I played the popular PC puzzle game a lot when I was younger, but I was so young that I needed a strategy guide to even come close to beating it.
But I do remember the game for what it was, haunting, mysterious and riveting and I think it could actually make a great movie. It’s not constrained by the typical high flying action that MUST accompany most video game movies, and often makes them cartoonish, and I think it might be a really smart film if handled properly.
So who is handling it? According to Deadline: “Producers Hunt Lowry and Mark Johnson have partnered with Adrian Vanderbosch and Isaac Testerman of Mysteria Film Group. Mysteria got the rights from game developers Cyan Worlds.” Johnson was also the producer of the Narnia series, and you may view that as a good or bad thing, I’m sort of split myself.
The film will draw on not just the first games, but its sequels and the accompanying novels that went along with them. It’s certainly going to be tricky to adapt, and I’m very curious to see how they go about it. Just keep Nicholas Cage away from it please.