GOD OF WAR Movie Scribes Talk about Adapting Kratos for the Big Screen

GOD OF WAR Movie Scribes Talk about Adapting Kratos for the Big Screen

Will humanizing Kratos rob the character of his badassery? Find out some of what writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan have in store for everyone's favorite bald, albino God killer after the jump!

By RoNiNKSpCtre - Aug 31, 2012 03:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Video Games
Source: IGN



Speaking with IGN on Thursday, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, probably best known for writing the last four SAW sequels, had this to say about how the character of Kratos will be handled in their adaptation:

"In the same way that Batman was grounded with Christopher Nolan's rendition, we were attempting to do that with Kratos so that when we meet him -- like they're doing in this newest game, which is sort of a prequel to the original -- we're seeing him before he became the Ghost of Sparta, when he was just a Spartan warrior and he had family and kids."

"In the game... there's that attack from the barbarians and Kratos has to call upon Ares to help him. Really, that's going to be our first act break. Before then, he's going to be mortal, and he's going to have his family. We're going to learn about him and understand how he operates. So it's potentially 30 minutes -- give or take -- of building up this character so that, when he does turn and becomes the Ghost of Sparta, we understand him as a human and we understand the journey that he's going to take. We're emotionally invested, so that it could go beyond just this one movie."


In addition, Melton and Dunstan stated that they wanted their version of Ares to be a little more goal oriented in his villainy.

"In the game, you know, he's immortal, and he doesn't really do much besides raid Athens... So we're trying to build him up a bit more, too, so that he can become a true villain."

No release date has currently been set for the GOD OF WAR movie, nor has a director been named. It is being produced by ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT.

Written and Submitted by RoNiNKSpCtre (Rhian Rutherford)
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PartyHard
PartyHard - 8/31/2012, 3:29 AM
I'm getting really [frick]ing sick and tired of these mother [frick]ers trying to ground everything in reality. Who the [frick] would ever think that's a good idea with this franchise?

Spend the opening credits explaining his origin, then the rest is him murdering gods. Why do anything else?
Screwger
Screwger - 8/31/2012, 4:07 AM
They want to make him just a man 'cause studio told them to. Studio gonna spend 30-35 mil max and everyone who played the game knows that's not enough to make GOW movie. And who gonna play Kratos? Vin Diesel? And the worst - The Rock( I like him but not for Kraty) ?!!!
Darth258
Darth258 - 8/31/2012, 4:48 AM
The idea of a Myth based story "grounded" is just stupid.
Love the game, hope it turns out well..
Darth258
Darth258 - 8/31/2012, 5:17 AM
I'm picturing already "The Minotaur", a buff guy with a bull mask and a fur coat with the voice of Sean Connery.

lol jk

But i had that picture in my mind as soon as i read "Nolan" and "Grounded" in the same sentence.
SoFresh
SoFresh - 8/31/2012, 5:56 AM
@PartyHard

Who the [frick] said they were gonna ground it in reality learn to read you [frick]ing dipshit, they said they wanted to make him relatable, because truth be told while the GOW series are amazing Kratos was showed as being nothing more then a 1-dimensional cry-baby.
GetsugaTensho22
GetsugaTensho22 - 8/31/2012, 6:00 AM
2 things.
1. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH GROUNDING MATTER IN REALITY.
2. From what one can gather from this interview, IT'S EXTREMELY LOGICAL that they do so. It's not just a game anymore. Do you REALLY expect them to do what the game did and keep thrusting him into fights every 2 seconds?
Stop acting so spoiled.
MarkJulian
MarkJulian - 8/31/2012, 6:04 AM
Good write-up for someone that just joined the site!
JatevinM
JatevinM - 8/31/2012, 6:04 AM
You all who are complaining about it being grounded in reality do realize that we are seeing Kratos before he became what we know him as. This is going to be Kratos when he had a wife and kids and before everything hit the fan so of course it could be grounded more in reality.
IIIAdamantiumIII
IIIAdamantiumIII - 8/31/2012, 6:18 AM
bet hes 17 and dealing with high school drama
Mysterion
Mysterion - 8/31/2012, 6:50 AM
what cipher said
MutantEquality
MutantEquality - 8/31/2012, 6:56 AM
Please be good
GetsugaTensho22
GetsugaTensho22 - 8/31/2012, 6:58 AM
Plus can anybody help me with the avatar? i try to upload it in HD quality like the editors but it always ends up all pixelated and stuff
Mysterion
Mysterion - 8/31/2012, 7:00 AM
Kratos is a one demensional character but the games are badass...GOW belongs on a game consol not on the big screen. With the overwhelming negative response the Clash of the Titans receieved, I could only imagine what a GOW movie will get.
flannelmandude
flannelmandude - 8/31/2012, 7:34 AM
I absolutely live the games but I already know the movie will be shit. No doubt there will be some cool action scenes but it will probably only be about an hour and a half long. That means every scene will be rushed and they won't go into any sort of character development. I would love for this movie to be epic but It won't. It'll be just be done wrong piece of crap. In my opinion.
ATrueHero1987
ATrueHero1987 - 8/31/2012, 7:35 AM
Kratos maybe a one dimensional character but GOW was badass! One of the last great games I played on PS2 before going to the Xbox side.
CharlesLord
CharlesLord - 8/31/2012, 7:41 AM
I forgot they were making a GoW game. I get why they're grounding it, I just dont know if it'll have the same epic scale as the games. They should prolly leave it on console and not big screen
TheDude
TheDude - 8/31/2012, 7:42 AM
Always thought it could make a great movie. Would like to see it shot in a simmilar style of Immortals. But it has to end with him becoming the new god of war. Such a fun game, And him being a badass murderin' mutha f*cker is his best trait!
GoILL
GoILL - 8/31/2012, 7:49 AM
I love the games but cipher hit the nail on the head with his statement, if this movie does get done hopefully they can change him up.
TChalla74
TChalla74 - 8/31/2012, 8:07 AM
idk about this.. this is my favorite video game franchise && if they screw it up it is gonna be a BIG problem for me!! It would be nice to see a live action movie but if they're gonna take away from the game, who the hell needs it?!

Dont screw up God Of War!! it's arguably one of the best games out, we don't need a chitty movie to go along w/ excellence.
johnblake
johnblake - 8/31/2012, 8:09 AM
WHY DO DEVELOPERS THINK WE ALL WANT TO SEE PREQUELS. NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THAT ALL THE TIME. GIVE US KRATOS IN HIS HEYDAY. RIGHT AT THE BEGINING OF GOW1. IM SO SICK AND TIRED OF THE "LETS MAKE IT ALL REALITY BASED LIKE CHRISTOPHER NOLAN. NO, THIS SHOULD BE MORE LIKE 300 ON A BIGGER SCOPE. HECK IF THEY GOT BALLS THEY COULD CROSS UNIVERSES. BUT WATCH FOR THE DISAPOINTMENT. JUST WATCH. (but i hope they prove me wrong)
ThaMessenger07
ThaMessenger07 - 8/31/2012, 8:11 AM
As long as the story is the same and the budget is sick.
jessepostal
jessepostal - 8/31/2012, 8:20 AM
Was just playing gow 3 on an 80inch screen with 5.1, it'll melt your face off
Dedpool
Dedpool - 8/31/2012, 8:25 AM
Actually what they said makes sense. Seeing him as a warrior and father and family man first makes his fall and decent into mad vengeance more palpatable and makes more sense. Also fleshing out Ares is also a good thing. Bring up his jealousy early with Athena. But I do think this should be a flashback. Part of a montage that features this stuff, and the killing of his family by his own hands and him becoming the ghost of Sparta. Thats should be the opening credits.
rockerdude22
rockerdude22 - 8/31/2012, 8:36 AM
I love the GOW games, but I agree with most people that Kratos is a pretty one-dimensional character. I think it's great that there going to try to flesh him out more. Don't like that? Don't watch it!
cosmicstranger
cosmicstranger - 8/31/2012, 9:03 AM
Making a god slaying character relatable? What is the next "idea?" The plot being earth-centric (i.e., save the people of the Earth)?

[Shakes head in disgust]

moviesrawesome
moviesrawesome - 8/31/2012, 9:17 AM
A movie about a guy who hacks off Hermes' legs and rips off the head of Helios with his bare hands grounded in reality?





I like the Batman franchise, but like Michael Bay it seems to have negatively influenced Hollywood.
TheAmazingSpidey63
TheAmazingSpidey63 - 8/31/2012, 9:23 AM
Wow. They're gonna do a GoW movie? Sounds cool to me (had a feeling they would adapt a GoW movie, but I didn't think it'd be soon). Anyhoo, I like how they want to take Kratos and flesh him out more in the movie. Give him more character depth and development. Flesh out the character and his background (his past life before becoming the Ghost of Sparta). Definitely don't get me wrong, the GoW franchise is [frick]ing bad@$$ (although I haven't played the PS2 games, only GoW III), but in the game he is portrayed as a one-dimension character. He was just this warrior who was pissed off at the gods and wanted revenge. So with this movie, they can get a better chance at making Kratos more than a one-dimensional character and give us more development and depth with this bad@$$ warrior. Plus, imagine the CGI and special FX in that movie, especially with the gods. D@mn. :)

Stay EPIC, my friends!
TheAmazingSpidey63
TheAmazingSpidey63 - 8/31/2012, 9:26 AM
@Mysterion - Huh. Now that you've mention that, yeah, I do hope it won't be taken as another "Clash of the Titans" movie. Yeah, with that taken into consideration, the studio has something to worry about and try and avoid that. :/
moviesrawesome
moviesrawesome - 8/31/2012, 9:47 AM
I bet they make it PG-13 too to maximize the cashflow.
BlackFlash
BlackFlash - 8/31/2012, 9:57 AM
I said after TDK that Nolan's take of films will f**k up a lot of movies in the future, wait until MOS hits the amount of fantasy/scfi and comic book films that will be taking the Nolan route will be insane.
JumpinJehosaphat
JumpinJehosaphat - 8/31/2012, 10:11 AM
The biggest problem w/ VG to movie adaptation is you end up with something the core VG audience doesn't really look for in a game: empathy. GoW in particular, but not alone by any stretch, is bloody, nihilistic fun. You don't want Kratos anywhere near human. You don't want emotions. You want slash, gore, and a little tit from the whores. Having a narrative that features Kratos actually caring about something outside of revenge or anger is counter to the entire reason to play a VG like this in the first place. That doesn't make for a good movie, though many have tried and failed.
SuperSpiderMan5778
SuperSpiderMan5778 - 8/31/2012, 10:26 AM
i think some of you retards are missing the point they only want to ground him for the human part i'm sure it will be all fantasy, cgi epicness once he becomes the ghost of sparta. but yeah i hate nolanized movies (source is fantasy to but adapted to the silver screen as reality). if the source is fantasy make it fantasy and throw realism out the window
sups92
sups92 - 8/31/2012, 10:27 AM
I'd really like to see Tom Hardy play Kratos, I mean he looks the part.
moviesrawesome
moviesrawesome - 8/31/2012, 10:33 AM
@G3n3r4lzZoD9

They want to make a man who tore down the whole world to avenge the death of two people that HE KILLED. That is the premise of the entire story. How powerful and destructive rage can become. I don't think Kratos can ever be made relatable. You would have to change so much about him that you would suffer from fans backlash.
flannelmandude
flannelmandude - 8/31/2012, 11:02 AM
Not that it really matters but looking back at my comment I posted earlier, I made some grammatical errors. whoopdy doo. get out.
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