Mass Effect won't suffer the same fate as other video game movies, said the screenwriter assigned to the project, because it draws on far more than the "seductive" visuals and active sequences that all video games are known for, whether or not they are accompanied by a story with any depth.
"In the early days [of video game adaptations], the idea was, let's try to recreate this, instead of pausing and asking is this a good story," said Mark Protosevich. "Does it have interesting concepts, does it have interesting philosophies and themes? I think most games fail that test. This doesn not."
Little was divulged about the film, which is known to release in 2012, but does not have a specific date. (The panel showed a trailer for Mass Effect 3 at its beginning). Protosevich and Casey Hudson, the game's creator, discussed the concepts and challenges of pulling off such a large narrative, spanning three games whose final release will be March 6, 2012.
"This is a really rich world and what Casey and his team have done is create a universe as rich as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings," Protosevich said. "It is a challenge to condene that to a sinle feature film."