MOVIE NEWS – The film adaptation of Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear has not disappeared, but a significant shift has quietly taken place behind the scenes. The project was originally set up with Jordan Vogt-Roberts as director, but it has now been handed over to Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, the directing duo behind the latest Final Destination movie, Final Destination: Bloodlines.
Things have been fairly quiet around the Metal Gear movie for a while, but that does not mean the project has died. It simply appears to have kept moving slowly in the background. Up to now, the public understanding was that the Sony Pictures adaptation would be directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, with Oscar Isaac lined up as the actor expected to play Solid Snake. Now, however, it has been revealed that the directing duties are no longer in his hands and have instead gone to Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein. That is a notable shift, especially because Vogt-Roberts had been tied to this movie for so long that many people treated his involvement as part of the project’s identity.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the change is connected to a new agreement with Sony Pictures. The studio has signed a preferential deal with Lipovsky and Stein that stretches across all of its film labels, and that arrangement also includes the creation of a new company called Wonderlab. The two filmmakers will run that banner and use it both for their own projects and for outside productions. The Metal Gear movie was folded into that package, which is how the Sony Columbia Pictures adaptation ended up in their hands.
The move was also publicly praised by Sanford Panitch, president of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, who described Zach and Adam as compelling storytellers, masters of visuals and suspense, and among the most impressive director-producers currently working. He added that the company is excited to build a creative home for them across Sony’s different film divisions. What stands out, however, is that the reporting around the deal does not mention Jordan Vogt-Roberts at all. That silence alone has already led many fans to assume that he has effectively been replaced.
Kojima Had Previously Given Vogt-Roberts His Blessing
What makes the change even more striking is that Vogt-Roberts and Hideo Kojima had already established a visible creative link around the movie in earlier stages of development. This was not just surface-level goodwill either, because the creator of Metal Gear openly viewed the Kong: Skull Island director as the ideal choice to bring Solid Snake to the big screen. In a past statement, Kojima even said he was convinced that nobody but Vogt-Roberts could direct the Metal Gear Solid movie. And yet the situation now appears to be the opposite, with Sony clearly deciding to move the long-gestating adaptation in a different direction under a new pair of directors.
Source: 3DJuegos
