'Iron Man' producer Ari Arad thinks filmmakers need to "pull the soul" out of a video game in order to make a good movie adaptation.
Metal Gear Solid
The producer - who's father Avi Arad is the founder of Marvel Studios - is currently working on a movie adaptation of the popular video game series 'Metal Gear Solid', and has said the best approach to creating a successful adaptation is discovering what's fundamental to that game, like he did with the 'Iron Man' comics before making the first blockbuster hit.
He said: "We didn't know Iron Man wasn't super cool when we started on the movie. [The movie] pulled the soul out of the comic and it was a different take. That's what has to happen for a game movie to be great."
Ari also spoke about his work with 'Metal Gear Solid' creator Hideo Kojima, and said the process has been difficult as he often "shut down" and refused to speak about the games to Ari and the movie's director Jordan Vogt-Roberts.
Ari said: "'Metal Gear Solid' is like a spicy dish. It's hard. It pushes back on its player in an awesome way. It's a wild experience and when you hang in there it is satisfying.
"'Metal Gear Solid' is a tricky one. Kojima's attitude is not trying to get in the way. He, I think, has already said a lot of what he's wanted to say.
"My dad and I and Jordan try to get him to talk about games and he shuts down on us. But you get into movies and he's suddenly bringing up all of these deep references.
"That's the sort of interesting thing about 'Metal Gear Solid': It's such a wild Japanese take on a very American thing. You're not understanding it as you play sometimes, but by the time you get through a level or a whole game you feel what Kojima wants you to feel."
Meanwhile, Ari believes the best thing about movie adaptations of video games lies in the way they can "deepen" the connection for audiences who may have lost interest in actually playing the game.
He told Polygon.com: "It's a great place for a fan to be if you can always be engaged with an IP you love regardless of format.
"What if you don't feel like playing an MMO anymore but you still love the IP? A movie is a great way to stay interested in that. That has value. The movie can deepen the relationship and I think it should."
Tagged in Hideo Kojima