"An experiment at a secret research facility has gone catastrophically wrong. Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper are the only surviving subjects. The Pickman Project will stop at nothing to hunt them down and stop the truth from getting out."
That's the plot of "Manhunt 2", the 2nd game in Rockstar Games controversial video game series "Manhunt". With it's highly dark, violent and gruesome content, it cause major controversy all over. While far from perfect, i found it to be a good game and i loved the storyline, even if it was predicable at some points. I would love to see a movie based off of it. Though with a game like this, they'd either edit it down hard to get a R rating or wing it and go for it and release it NC-17 or Unrated (Like "Hatchet II", "100 Tears" and the original "Dawn Of The Dead"). Before you ask why i didn't go for the first game... I'll leave that for the sequel fan cast. (Hint hint)
This is who i'd love to see direct, write, act in, etc.
For directing a very gruesome film based off a very gruesome video game like "Manhunt 2", i'd love to see the godfather of gore Tom Savini direct the film. He's brought to us the amazing gore effects seen in many iconic horror movies such as "Friday The 13th", "Dawn Of The Dead", "Day Of The Dead", "Creepshow", "The Prowler" and "The Burning". He's also had his hand in directing films thanks to doing the 1990 remake of "Night Of The Living Dead" and couple episodes of "Tales From The Darkside". To see Tom do this would be epic.
For writing the film, i'd love to see David J. Schow adapt the fame into movie form. One of the bigger Splatterpunk writers around, he's also written many films before including "A Nightmare On Elm Street 5", "Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3", "The Crow" and also has written two episodes of Showtime's "Masters Of Horror", "Pick Me Up" and "We All Scream For Ice Cream".
Elijah Wood as Daniel "Danny" Lamb: Daniel was one of America's top leaders in neuroscience, while working for The Project. After the government revoked the funding of the Project and as a means to further his work, Daniel volunteered himself as a test subject for a project called "The Pickman Bridge", as a result of this Daniel now suffers from blackouts with no memory of who he is or his past and has spent the last six years locked away in Dixmor Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Now he's out on the loose to find answers.
Reason for casting: A weird choice, trust me, i know, but Elijah to me resembles Daniel and when you give him the right role, like in the "Lord Of The Rings" series, "Sin City" and "Green Street Hooligans", he's a really great actor. I find him a really good actor and can bring Daniel to life, though he has to bulk up a bit, not much, but enough.
Jason Lee as Leo Kasper: Leo is a fellow inmate of Daniel’s within Dixmor Hospital for the Criminally Insane and aids Daniel in his escape from the asylum. Aside from being a Dixmor inmate Leo is a trained assassin, as such Leo is far more aggressive than Daniel and urges Daniel along the way to recovering his memories. Leo is considered a threat to The Project due to his anomalistic ways of dealing with things, while in captivity Leo was responsible for strangling Dr. Deborah to death.
Reason for casting: Another choice, this one i know people are gonna bitch at, but this one i had to give thought for, then i watched "Chasing Amy" recently and i started hearing Leo's lines being spoken by Jason and it fit him. Plus he could be a serious actor when he wants to, like in "Memphis Beat" and "The Incredibles", so to me, he's Leo.
Angela Bassett as Dr. Laura Whyte: Dr. Whyte works as an on-site clinical psychologist for The Project, within Dixmor Hospital. Under her command the inmates Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper are to be apprehended immediately as they pose a potential threat to The Project.
Reason for casting: Honestly, she was the best i can think off for Dr. Whyte, just cause she reminds me of her. Simple really, nothing more.
Brian Cox as Dr. Pickman: Dr. Pickman is the founding professor of The Project and as such the full title of the project is "The Pickman Project". Like Dr. Whyte, Pickman is also a regular within the Dixmor facility. Not much else is known of Pickman beyond the knowledge that he is the highest ranking scientist on the Project.
Reason for casting: Brian's played swarmly types like Pickman before, so it'd be perfect for him to play him. Plus he resembles Pickman if you ask me. Plus, i'm a sucker for his acting, he was awesome as William Stryker in "X2", Ivan Simanov in "Red", Mr. Kreeg in "Trick 'r Treat" and he was also voiced the villain Starkweather in the original "Manhunt" game.
Gary Anthony Williams as Dr. Micheal Grant: Michael is a former friend and co-worker of Daniel, like Daniel he also worked for The Project. Michael aided in the implementation of The Project’s experiments and is a high ranking scientist.
Reason for Casting: Yes, he's a comedian, but i feel he could play the role of Micheal well, even if it is just for one scene. Plus like before, he resembles him.
Composing the music, Graeme Revell would be great as he's done many films and his scores are quite good, his best work i think is his score for "From Dusk Till Dawn".
And for the Special Makeup Effects, only it's gonna take more than one group to do the work and i say both Tom Savini and the boys at K.N.B EFX, Greg Nicotero and Howard Burger should team up to do the many gruesome effects and kills in the movie. The three have worked together before in the 80's and would be epic if they worked again together.