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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Soulcalibur (film). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Soulcalibur Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
The first poster revealed for the film that was being worked on by 2nd Degree Media, taken from The Fighters Generation.[1]
Soulcalibur has had two attempted movie adaptations of the Soul series. There have been two publicly known projects,[2][3] although both are either in development hell or have been cancelled.
The first project[]
In April 12, 2001, Alan Noel Vega, Michael Cerenzie, Dr. Sam Kute and Joseph Jones signed a formal signed a formal letter of intent with Namco vice-chairman Ryuji Hashiguchi to produce a film adaptation of Soulcalibur. Sammo Hung had also signed a letter of intent to direct the film although, at that point in time, he was not officially attached to the project yet.[2] Whilst no hard numbers would be given, Sammo Hung's official website had speculated that the budget could reach $50 million, depending on which stars were cast. Locations could've included Eastern Europe, such as Prague, and parts of China. The planned release date was in Summer, 2002. The site would go on to further speculate that, given Namco's relationship with the special effects house Rhythm & Hues Studios, they would've been Namco's first choice to work on the film's special effects.[2] Sammo's official website would eventually remove all news updates from prior to August 2001, which includes any mentions of a Soulcalibur film, from the website by the next year.[4] Fans, as well as the video game news site Eurogamer, had speculated that Sammo had lost interest in creating the movie after Jackie Chan could not commit a schedule to create the movie,[5] however this would never be confirmed by any official channels. Due to the lack of news since the initial announcement on Sammo Hung's website, the film is presumed to have been cancelled.
The second project[]
It was reported by The Hollywood Reporter in 2004 that Warren Zide, known for producing the American Pie film series, had acquired the film rights to Soulcalibur, with the project originally going to be the first project under Zide's Sony-based production company, Anthem Pictures. Alongside Zide, Matthew Rodes, Noel Vega and Jesse Warshal would've been co-producers.[6] According to the original report, the story would've been as follows:
"The video game story revolves around two warriors who are chosen by Shaolin monks to recover and destroy a powerful sword that has fallen into the hands of an evil prince who plans to use it to open the gates of hell and destroy the world."
Even after two years had passed, there would be no further news on this project. The entertainment website 1Up had reported that a teaser website was discovered, launched by 2nd Degree Media,[3] with it only having being updated once to include a 2007 release date.[source?] According to the television and film tracking website, Ross Reports (now known as "Call Sheets"), 2nd Degree Media was affiliated with Anthem Pictures,[3] and, some time in 2005, its website was updated showing that shooting would've taken place in Romania, China and Canada.[7] 1Up's request for comments to Bandai Namco went unanswered.
Although the film was supposed to be live-action, a conceptualised image of Siegfried was sent to The Fighters Generation.[8]
On the 16th of August, 2007, the long-running website dedicated to fighting games, The Fighters Generation, would reveal one of the first posters of what was apparently titled "Soulcalibur: The Movie," featuring Nightmare.[1] Later that same year on the 30th of October, The Fighters Generation would upload another poster featuring Ivy which was apparently made for "the film's promotion in Japan, from an exclusive 'underground' source."[1] On the 16th of January, 2008, The Fighters Generation would post an update on the film:
"The story will follow Ivy, searching for an "ancient relic" that her father had been searching for when he died (the SoulEdge), and her discovering what it is, while putting herself in the middle of something bigger than she ever intended to."
Furthermore, according to The Fighters Generation, the film was supposed to be live-action although their sources had sent them a conceptualised image of Siegfried from the film.[8] On the 8th of February, 2008. The Fighters Generation's webmaster apparently had a chance to read through the first ten pages of a rough draft of the film's script that was from 2nd Degree Media.[8]
"While I'm not permitted to post the script itself, I can tell you that there was a shark, nocturnal creatures falling dead from the sky, Sophitia killing someone, a look into the childhood, growth, and resurrection of Cervantes; and Siegfried & Raphael are apparently cousins... Yes, cousins. That's all I can say for now, besides the fact that after reading the script, it kept me wanting more. When I first heard about a SC live action movie, of course I had my doubts, as many of you did; but honestly the script so far hasn't disappointed me!"
Although the site had stated that they would get to read more of the script at a later date, no further updates on the movie were published after this.
A few websites had published a possible poster of Nightmare with a possible release date of 2008, although no such movie was released in that year. It is speculated by many that the Soulcalibur movie has been scrapped once again and that the official website is merely an abandoned web page. To further support the speculation, Namco had not made any official announcements on the movie status.
With the closure of 2nd Degree Media[source?] and no attempt made to legally retain the license since its purchase in 2004, the license option has since expired and the film rights have been released again.[source?]
Gallery[]
![A poster that was apparently made to promote the film in Japan, taken from The Fighters Generation.[1]](/wiki/File:Ivy9-japanese-web-poster.jpg "Ivy9-japanese-web-poster.jpg (217 KB)")
References[]
- ^ a b c d "FightersGeneration.com". FightersGeneration.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2025.
- ^ a b c "Sammo News". Sammohung.com. May 2, 2001. Archived from the original on November 23, 2001. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ a b c Klepek, Patrick. "Soul Calibur Movie In 2007?". 1Up. April 18, 2006. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
- ^ SammoHung.com. SammoHung.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2002. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ Bye, John. "Sammo Hung to direct Soul Calibur". Eurogamer. April 4, 2001. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
- ^ Kit, Borys. "'SoulCalibur' battles to screen". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 1, 2006. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ "Films in Development". Ross Reports. Archived from the original on December 30, 2005. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ a b c "NEWS ARCHIVES (Q1-2008)". The Fighters Generation. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2025.