Oscar Isaac Just Gave Away What’s Holding Back the Metal Gear Solid Movie
Oscar Isaacs is confident the Metal Gear Solid movie will release eventually, even if it’s just an idea in his mind.
Rumors of a live-action Konami.
In 2020, the scrapped first version of Star Wars Episode IX he co-wrote with Colin Trevorrow. Unfortunately, this was the last time we heard of any progress being made on this Metal Gear Solid adaptation. In 2022, the film already seems to have one foot in development hell.
But during a recent interview with ComicBook.com about his new graphic novel Head Wounds: Sparrow, Isaac gave an update on the project. Don’t get your hopes up that this thing is happening any time soon, though. Isaac’s answer suggests the movie is still in the development stage.
“We want it to happen. Be excited,” Isaac said. “What’s the script? What’s the story? What’s the take…But hopeful that comes to fruition because there’s so much potential for that. It’s an incredible game. It’s my favorite.”
Vogt-Roberts and Isaac clearly have a ion for Metal Gear that goes far beyond capitalizing on an established IP gamers love and even non-gamers recognize. Plenty of movie adaptations have been built on less — which kind of explains why so many video game movies suck.
“That’s one of the most important franchises to me on the planet,” Vogt-Roberts told Den of Geek in 2017. “Not even just as a video game, but as a piece of media.”
On top of ion, Vogt-Roberts has a clear understanding and respect for the source material. And unlike the studio execs who might seek to make a Metal Gear movie feel like dozens of other big-screen action IP — which would completely miss the point — the director is determined to make this franchise feel unique in theaters.
“Metal Gear Solid is about that sinking feeling as you go deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast and you’re further away from safety. Every step you might get caught,” Vogt-Roberts said to Den of Geek in the same interview. “It’s about the palpitations your heart gives when an alarm goes off and the cat-and-mouse game that ensues, but it’s also about this highly idiosyncratic, beautiful property that (Hideo) Kojima created where the characters spew philosophy and ideology. It’s a hyper-specific thing that is unlike anything else. You cannot take Metal Gear and say, ‘It’s like Mission: Impossible. It’s like G.I. Joe.’ No, no, no. Metal Gear is only like Metal Gear.”
And, Isaac echoed this sentiment last year, citing the game’s “psychedelic military horror” as one of its many strong suits. That’s certainly one way to describe the supernatural Psycho Mantis and The Sorrow boss fights. Unfortunately, Isaac’s newest statement might not just be a coy update to hype up the movie adaptation; he might be asking “What’s the story?” because he has no idea.
Earlier this year, during the red carpet premiere of Moon Knight, Isaac told IGN, “We’re searching, we’re searching like Solid Snake. We’re climbing through air ducts, we’re looking for the story.” The implication was that the people behind the film hadn’t settled on a script yet. Judging by Isaac’s recent statement, that might still be the case, which means that we are probably years off from an actual Metal Gear Solid movie.
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Aaron Greenbaum is a freelance games and pop-culture journalist who thrives on the latest gaming industry news and video game trivia. He also writes comic books…