Screenwriter Roger Avary, who earned an Oscar for writing Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino, has been tapped to write and direct a feature film based on id Software’s classic video game Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The live-action film is being produced by Samuel Hadida’s Davis Films, in association with id Software. Hadida and Avary have a history of collaborating on films, most recently the video-game adaptation Silent Hill, which Aary wrote and Hadida produced.
Credited with inventing the action shooter genre, the Wolfenstein franchise has players take on the role of an allied soldier on a mission to infiltrate a Nazi stronghold and defeat the Third Reich. Inside Castle Wolfenstein, players encounter supernatural experiments and experimentally augmented soldiers as well as the rank-and-file storm troopers.
‘I’ve been playing the character of B.J. Blazkowicz since the epic Wolfenstein 3D first bruised my brain, and have ever since wanted to to bring his adventures to life on the big screen,’ says Avary. ‘I will endeavor to uphold not only the rich tradition of WWII ‘guys on a mission’ films, but to bring the world of Wolfenstein alive. It’s time to bust some dams, storm some bunkers and blow up some bridges. This is going to be insanely fun.’
Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software, adds, ‘The Wolfenstein franchise has long been a personal favorite of mine. Not only is it the game that created the genre, but its rugged hero and bizarre Nazi villains captured the imagination of millions of fans.
Hadida also produced the series of films based on the Resident Evil games and is currently adapting Onimusha for the big screen with director Christophe Gans (Silent Hill, Brotherhood of the Wolf) at the helm. His other producing credits include Constantine, the movie based on the DC/Vertigo comic-book property Hellblazer.
