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Metal Gear movie director Jordan Vogt-Roberts comments on Konami-Kojima split

In a couple of interviews with EuroGamer, GameSpot and GamesRadar, Metal Gear movie director Jordan Vogt-Roberts talked about his vision for the movie and how the Kojima-Konami split impacted the development. The movie is still in early stages of production, but Jordan is about to hire a new writer (who is also a Metal Gear fan).

“We’re about to hire a new writer on Metal Gear. It’s probably the most complicated property on the planet. The reasons people love that franchise are – well, you need to run towards those reasons as opposed to away from them. The most beautiful thing for me, the past few months, is that Kong’s been a success, critically and commercially, and that gave me an incredible amount of freedom to go to Sony and our producers and say we live in a world that’s post-Deadpool and post-Logan. With the success of Kong, that obviously breeds a bit more trust so I can say let’s make the Kojima version of this, the version that commits to the weird and strange and isn’t necessarily what you think a big blockbuster franchise could be.”

Apparently the movie is currently being rewritten, because Vogt-Roberts didn’t like the direction in which the script was heading.

“I was able to go to them and say, ‘Let’s stop where we are, because I think we’re heading down a direction that doesn’t fully capture why people love this game, what Kojima’s voice is, why people who have played this game for decades love it, why people who have never played this game will love it.’ I was able to say, ‘Let’s really think about whether we’re making the truest, most balls-to-the-wall Metal Gear version of this–the most Kojima version of this. And even if that means we make it for a little bit less money, let’s make the version of this that’s true to what it is, fully committed to what Kojima’s voice is.’ So we’re sort of re-working the script right now, and hopefully we get a script that they are excited about, and then get more serious about making it.” he told GameSpot.

In another interview, with website GamesRadar, he added: “We’re about to hopefully get our new writer hired on Metal Gear, so that’s going to be a really deep dive. I’m pretty sure we’re going to go lock ourselves in a room for a weekend and watch every Metal Gear cutscene that ever existed and talk about it, so that should be pretty interesting (and probably smelly).”

Jordan Vogt-Roberts finds himself in a curious position, working with a franchise that’s owned by Konami but wanting to stay respectful to Kojima’s vision at the same time.

“Technically it’s Konami’s property.” he told EuroGamer. “I will always be making this movie to interpret and service the world that Kojima made. That’s why all of us care about the words Metal Gear Solid. Regardless of their split – Kojima and I have become friends and colleagues, and it’s important to me to shepherd something that he’d be proud of. Konami’s made incredible games, but Metal Gear – they supported him in making these games early on, but it’s Kojima’s voice and the voice of his colleagues and artists and designers, and I’ll always be trying to service that.” To GameSpot, he said that he hasn’t had a single meeting with Konami. “I have not dealt with Konami at all.”

Recently the director has revealed that the movie will not simply be an adaptation of a specific game in the series, but rather something that carries the themes and story elements from the whole franchise. During the interview with EuroGamer he added that he aims to make something people haven’t seen before.

“It’d sound too much like a modern statement to call it a remix, because that’s not what it is, but it’s trying to fuse a couple of different storylines together, and it’s all tied together with a device I can’t really talk about right now but that I’m really excited about. I think it’s going to make a movie where people go ‘whoah, I’ve not seen that before’, and that’s very cool. And I think it’s very Kojima in its approach.”

“I simultaneously want to tell a small story, and an enormously complicated one at the same time. It would be the easiest franchise to take on too much and to try and do too many things, but it’s not going to make sense until you see it.” he told GameSpot. “I’m trying to tell a contained, emotional story, but also bring in the scope and weirdness of the Metal Gear franchise and to understand the different generations.”

To GamesRadar, he said: “I really give credit to our execs at Sony and our producers for really backing me on this, saying, let’s make the version of this movie that succeeds because it’s different, because it’s weird, because it is Kojima. Understand that those things are important to this franchise, that the intensity and the aesthetic coolness of the franchise is one element, and there’s an inherent goofiness and a weirdness and a Japanese quality; let’s not be afraid of that stuff.”

Lastly, EuroGamer asked Vogt-Roberts who he wants to play the role of Snake.

“I can’t tell you that! I don’t care about it being a movie star, I want a cast who’s best for the role. It also depends on when this thing gets made, and how quickly it gets made. We’ll see…”

This won’t be the first time Vogt-Roberts is working with a large videogame property, as today he announced he directed the launch campaign for Destiny 2. You can watch the live action trailer here.

To read the entire interviews, follow the links in the source section below.

Source: GameSpotEuroGamer, GamesRadar

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