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Filmmaker Brad Peyton, who previously brought the Dwayne Johnson vehicles San Andreas and Rampage to the big screen, has been tapped to direct another video game adaptation. Variety brings word that Peyton will helm Sniper Elite, an adaptation of the hit Rebellion Developments stealth-shooter franchise. Peyton will co-write the script with screenwriter Gary Graham, with the trade noting that the movie is being “positioned as a ‘Sherlock Holmes’ meets ‘The Bourne Identity’ thriller” but will make sure it’s different enough from other more traditional sniper-themed war movies. Though unconfirmed a feature adaptation of this game series would be incomplete without its trademark “X-Ray Kill Cam.”
In a statement, Peyton opened up about his intentions with the project, adding: “There’s so much tension and character in this story, the potential for taut, exciting action is all there. What’s amazing about Sniper Elite is its focus on stealth and strategy, but also fun and incredible twists. I can’t wait for audiences to follow and care for a hero that will have to face the most dangerous and challenging mission of his life.”
The trade reveals the description of the feature adaptation of Sniper Elite as well, which reads: “The movie will see an elite Allied sniper, Karl Fairburne, engage in a cat-and-mouse chase through the streets of London at the height of the Blitz during World War II, as he tries to save British Prime Minister Winston Churchill from a Nazi assassin.”
“The problem is that we love both snipers,” Marla Studios’ Jean-Julien Baronnet told the outlet about the film’s warring characters. “If you have a sniper that wants to execute his mission, but has human feelings, who has sensitivity, who is a professional but has to deal with his own humanity, that’s where it becomes interesting.”
“We wanted to twist and tweak the viewers’ expectations as to what they’d get from a movie like this,” Jason Kingsley, Rebellion CEO added. “It’s a really, really compelling piece of scriptwriting, and great performances will be needed from the best actors we can get hold of. It’s a real, proper piece of drama, which just happens to be inspired by our computer game.”
To date four mainline Sniper Elite games have been released in addition to four “Zombie” themed spin-off titles as well. Within each game the player is given a task/target to take out but with every level they’ll be forced to figure out how to make the elimination unnoticed by anyone else. The previously mentioned “X-Ray Kill Cam” is perhaps what the franchise is best known for, showing off grotesque and anatomically accurate renditions of the internal injuries suffered by the shot.