Announced years ago, Sony Pictures’ big-screen treatment of the successful massively multi-player online game EverQuest seems to be making some forward movement at last. Daily Variety reports that the studio has hired 300 writer Michael Gordon to pen a screenplay based on the Sony Online Entertainment title, which took the gaming world by storm in 1999 and still has legions of devotees.
While expansive, interactive worlds have become commonplace, EverQuest was one of the first MMOGs to really break out, attracting more than 450,000 subscribers at its peak. Gamers were more than willing to pay $10 a month to explore the world of Norrath and interact with other gamers and AI monsters. Designed by Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover and Bill Trost, and developed by Verant Interactive, EverQuest remained the most popular game if its kind until challenged by such newcomers as World of Warcraft in 2004.
The EverQuest film is being produced by former Marvel Studios president Avi Arad for Columbia Pictures. Sam Dickerman will oversee production on behalf of Sony. The game’s official news site can be found at http://eqplayers.station.sony.com/index.vm.
