4mm Games is developing "online worlds that will define social gaming", according to the company's website. The studio is teaming with CEA Autumn Games in a multi-year partnership that will encompass multiple titles and platforms.

"4mm Games has a pioneering vision for the future of interactive entertainment," said Alex Collmer, CEO and co-founder of CEA Autumn Games. "We believe the 4mm management team combines a unique blend of design, technological prowess and cultural understanding in a way that that will speak to a broad audience, and we look forward to working together to create blockbuster entertainment."

Nicholas Perrett, former general manager of Image Metrics, will be the new studios chief executive officer. Paul Coyne, former VP of NBC and SVP of Warner Music group, will be the executive vice president of 4mm. King will be the studio's president and Foreman the chief technology officer.

"I was hugely honored to be approached by talent of Jamie and Gary's caliber to co-found 4mm Games," Perrett said. "It is an utterly unprecedented time in the history of video games, as the web and new business models disrupt the existing value chain. We are excited to create a new type of business to deliver groundbreaking content with global appeal to a consumer who lives online."

There was that Mario Bros. movie. Remember it? I just thought it didn't go anywhere. Like, you can only blow up enough cars and places, have enough special effects. That's not necessarily a plot. But we've got a plot. And also it's so topical and real 'cause it's about drugs, which is a huge problem in our society.

It was great to hear that. Read the rest of the his interview and say "hi" to your mother for me, okay?

Mark Wahlberg:'You are what you are' [The Japan Times] [Pic]

The ESRB lists relatively new ratings for both Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne for the Xbox 360. Typically, that's a good indicator that the games are going to hit the Xbox Originals lineup. That's a good opportunity for those of you who missed out on the originals to see how Max progresses from terminally pinch-faced to sad and droopy to blood-spattered and grizzled over the course of the trilogy.

We expect the release date to be between now and "Winter."

Max Payne [ESRB via Destructoid]

"Honestly, I really think it's a marketing thing," says Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li actress Kristen Kreuk. "There's a built-in audience. But realistically, if you are trying to sell a film, you have a huge audience already."

Case-in-point: Max Payne. While it was generally panned by critics, the movie took the box office's No. 1 spot during its opening weekend and ended up turning a profit of around $50 million.

"It's the same as with sports," explains David Jaffe, creator of God of War. "If you're a sports fan and the home team is losing, you'll see the game in the hope your team will turn it around."

One day, Hollywood will. Epic exec Mark Rein is optimistic, stating that big time movie producers like Jerry Bruckheimer, Peter Jackson and Thomas Tull are taking them seriously and treating them with importance.

"If you treat your material with importance then filmgoers will take it seriously. Did you ever think a theme-park ride would make a great movie? Jerry Bruckheimer did," Rein said, "and he made three awesome movies based on it (the Pirates of the Caribbean series). Now he's working with Prince of Persia. Peter Jackson created three movies based on a taking a classic fantasy novel seriously and won a Best Picture Oscar. Now he's working with Halo. Thomas Tull reinvented Batman and Superman and now has one of the biggest movies ever with The Dark Knight, and now he's working with Gears of War and World of Warcraft. So yes, I see good to reasons to be very optimistic about the film versions of these and other games."

Adapting games has proven hard, but Hollywood will figure out how to do it. As Jaffe pointed out, "Comic books are much easier to adapt into movies because they are traditional story telling. Games are harder to adapt because at their very core, they're games."

Hollywood's passion for the video game [Japan Times] [Pic]

All three editions of Max Payne sport an unrated version of the film not shown in theaters, as well as the theatrical cut. The "Special" edition and Blu-ray disc add digital copies and the bonus features "Michelle Payne" — an animated comic — and "Picture" — a behind the scenes look at the making of Max Payne.

The unrated cut of Max Payne adds footage. Three minutes worth. Of what we're not sure.

We'd advise against camping out. With a current rating of 18% on RottenTomatoes.com, we're thinking there will be plenty of copies.

It's ... really impressive to me that Max Payne came in number one this weekend...What I'm hearing is that the film is doing very well in many other European countries and Australia. This kind of opening brings us a lot closer to the reality of a sequel.

From haterade to champagne and talks of sequels in half a week? Amazing what the sight of buckets full of cash money will do to your thoughts on a shitty movie.

Miller Tones Down Max Payne Film Criticisms [Edge]

• BloodRayne - $1.5 million
• Alone in the Dark — $2.83 million
• In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale — $2.98 million
• House of the Dead — $5.68 million
• Hitman — $13.18 million
• Doom — $15.48 million
• Max Payne — $18 million
• Silent Hill — $20.15 million
• Resident Evil: Extinction — $23.67 million
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse — $23.03 million

The big weekend take by a game movie is Lara Croft: Tomb Raider is US$47.73 million.

How ‘Max Payne’’s Opening Weekend Compares To Nine Other Video Game Movies [Multiplayer] [Pic]

The problem is, if anyone plays Warcraft... I'm really good, I'm a really kick ass Mage... We'll you're your own person and you can get into a guild... You gotta be in a guild, because you gotta do raids that require thirty or forty people. But now with the expansion pack, they're gonna have raids that require only like ten people. So that'll really make things a lot easier... Oh my god, it's such a good game. I love it.

She seems up-to-date for someone who quit a year ago. Every time she tries to get out, they pull her back in. Clip after the jump.

Mila Kunis Is Kind of Awesome Beyond Words [Topless Robot] [Pic]

3D Realms "Bewildered" by Max Payne Flick [Edge]

"Max Payne" shoots to top of box office roster [Reuters] [Pic]

In his review of the new Max Payne movie, which he pans like everyone else, Moore writes "But as good as a couple of its action beats are, Max still suffers from the heartlessness that makes games emotionally inferior to movies. Nobody ever shed a tear over a video-game character's death."

Oh, Roger. A simple Google search for "I cried when Aeris died" shows just how wrong you are. Even I... have a friend whose tear ducts were fit to blow near the end of Shadow of the Colossus. Shit on Max Payne 'til your heart's content, but realize we're a sensitive lot. *sniff*

Movie review: Max Payne — 2 out of 5 stars [Orlando Sentinel - thanks, Dylan!]

Then the reality of the film began to seep in. Horrid dialogue, surprisingly bad acting across the board, and some really dodgy sound editing — have you ever noticed sound editing before? ...me neither — helped to drive an already sub-standard plot further into the ground...

Nobody comes out of this thing looking good. The damn thing's 85 minutes and you swear you've been in there for about two and a half hours by the time it's over. All the buzz you've been hearing about how this film is good is coming from people whose jobs depend on it making money. Do not give it the time of day.

Sounds like the film's makers should've worried less about making Max Payne true to the video game and concentrated on, you know, just making a decent flick. All hope is not lost, as there will be many more reviews. And maybe, just maybe, you can one day see the Max Payne flick and say "hi" to his mother for us.

Latauro Trashes All Eighty-Five Minutes Of MAX PAYNE!! [AICN]

LOS ANGELES, CA—Long before next generation consoles like Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 ushered in deeper, more cinematic videogame experiences, Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment and publisher Gathering of Developers introduced Max Payne to PC and PlayStation 2 games in 2001. The shooter became a hit with gamers, captivating players with its dark revenge story line and its film noir atmosphere.

Producer Scott Faye (Venom) fell in love with Max Payne 10 years ago when he happened upon a render of the New York City detective at 3D Realms’ E3 booth in Los Angeles.

“Max Payne is as strong a narrative and character content a game has produced so far,” said Faye. “I think other games are now moving in that direction, but clearly this was a defining game of its time.”

With a handshake and a promise to keep the integrity of the game intact, Faye set out to bring Max to the big screen. So why did it take so long?

“That's a very good question,” said director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines), who ultimately brought the game to life. “Maybe because there was intense satisfaction with it as it existed in its own form. I don't see anyone rushing out to make War and Peace, but it's a hell of a book.”

After handing out PlayStation 2 copies of the game around town and showing studio executives a video of the in-game cinematics, Faye found producer Julie Yorn (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) and 20th Century Fox optioned the film. Faye said the film is a very truncated version of the game narrative.

“One of the great strokes of luck with our executive at Fox was to bring Beau Thorne in as the writer,” said Faye. “He was certainly the most diligent writer in terms of researching the narrative and character underpinnings of the videogame franchise. Why go out of your way to acquire an IP if you're not going to use as much of it as you can in the adaptation process?”

Moore was brought in to helm the project. Although the director did own an original PlayStation that he used to play Formula 1 games, he couldn’t get very far in Max Payne without dying.

“I brought in a 17-year-old to play the game for me and I watched, which is a little like paying someone to fuck your wife for you,” said the Irish director, who’s always good for a memorable quote.

Thorne’s script attracted Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg, who said he wasn’t even aware the movie was based on a game.

“I saw the game after reading the script,” said Wahlberg. “I didn't want to go into that whole thing — because there's a lot of baggage there — without seeing the game. It seemed like a no-brainer after seeing the story.”

Retaining the game’s dark tone, Moore didn’t speak to the game’s creators, but he did play the game. Satisfying gamers was important to him.

“I've shown the movie to some big fans of the game and they’ve liked it,” said Moore. “Aside from the obvious things like the voiceover, bullet time and camera angles, it's the more difficult-to-grasp concept of the atmosphere. I'd hope to see a gamer come away feeling that the movie felt like the game.”

Actress Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) was very familiar with the game’s dark revenge them heading into the role of Mona Sax.

“I played Max Payne when it came out, but I wasn't very good at it,” said Kunis. “It came out around the same time as 007 and any game that requires you to move your head around, I'm not really good with. I'm much better at RPG games like World of Warcraft.”

Although Internal Affairs Investigator Jim Bravura is a 60-year-old white guy in the game, Moore, who had tried to cast Chris “Ludacris” Bridges (RocknRolla) in his last three movies; decided to give this pivotal role to the rapper-turned-actor.

“I used to play the game,” said Bridges. “I didn't play it as much as I wanted to because of course I was still very busy and on the road, but I definitely love the game and I'm telling you right now the movie is even better.”

Fox agrees with the actor. Max Payne has been tracking well in test screenings and the studio has invested a lot of money in both the production, which was filmed this past winter around Toronto (doubling as Manhattan), and in marketing (you’ve no doubt seen the commercials).

“The fact is Max Payne stands out in the videogame world,” said Moore. “Unlike say comic books where you have comparative super heroes recycled in different tights or capes or whatever. Max Payne is something unique that you don't find in other videogames. Do I think it will turn the tide of videogame movies? Maybe. Maybe it will be a better movie than past videogame adaptations.”

When you check out Max Payne at theaters starting October 17, make sure you sit through the closing credits for a bonus scene that sets up Max Payne 2. After all, there was a sequel made to the game in 2003 (Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne).

“Because I enjoyed working with Wahlberg so much, I'd do it again with him, for sure,” said Moore. “I personally believe he fits this character like a glove. He's having his Steve McQueen moment. He nailed it.”

Uusi Alan Wake -traileri… [Pelaajalehti via VG247]

Rockstar's Max Payne 3 emerges again [CVG] [Image]

It's a little slower and a little more atmospheric. There are some rougher edges on it, but it's not going to be a bloodfest. I want this to be the Max Payne that I set out to shoot... The movie you see in the theaters will be an intense experience and the movie you see on DVD will be as intense an experience with some extra sensibilities for people who really adore the game.

And Moore already has his fingers crossed for the inevitable sequel.

Max Payne Director Wins Battle with MPAA, Gains PG-13 Rating [GameDaily] [Pic]

Moore says that the MPAA hobbled his movie, financially, with an R because it's dark and "feels R," theorizing that the ratings body "gave The Dark Knight a PG-13 rating and basically sucked Warner Bros. cock."

The Dark Knight, Moore thinks, was "pretty gnarly for PG-13" and that his own film was going to get the same treatment. Not so, despite the film being "not yet rated" officially.

The Max Payne director says that Wahlberg intentionally avoided some salty language and that Moore "didn’t go cutting people’s heads off and ripping their eyeballs out just for the fun of it" to help nab the PG-13, something he's still lobbying for. Perhaps a reversal of MPAA and film studio roles could help, John? MPAA volunteers need blowjobs too.

Max Payne Director John Moore Just A Tad Pissed With Film Ratings Board [Das Gamer]

Thanks, Brandon!

Quartermann: Max Payne 3 and New PS3 Exclusive Coming From Rockstar? [1UP]