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Fans have surely been waiting a long time for the inevitable news of a film adaptation of the Metal Gear Solid games. How, then, would those fans feel, should a name such as Paul W.S. Anderson become attached to the project? Well, it turns out that there's a chance we may find out.

Website ShockTillYouDrop was recently in Toronto on the set of the Anderson-directed Resident Evil: Afterlife and conducted a brief interview with producer (and Anderson colleague) Jeremy Bolt. In addition to updating the status of the long-discussed Castlevania film, he dropped a bit of bombshell when he stated that Anderson would like adapt Konami's Metal Gear Solid game franchise for the big screen. That is the extent of what is known on the MGS issue, but more will surely develop to clarify (or perhaps shoot down) its significance.

Do we really need to go into depth as to the why this is wrong? Some things are just so obvious, it's silly to even waste time explaining them. You don't stick a fork into a power outlet, you don't swim right after you eat, and you don't hire Paul W.S. Anderson to direct a Metal Gear film. Don't get me wrong, Anderson is not the worst director walking the planet, in fact, (as I've said in other writings,) his video game films such as the Resident Evil series and the first Mortal Kombat film are solid efforts, given the genre. His films provide a steady supply of action and excitement buttressed by a relatively stable storyline. While there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, it is NOT how I would want to feel about a film that would have audacity to adopt the Metal Gear Solid mythos, which I (and legions of millions across the globe) find sacred. Solid Snake deserves so much better than to be placed as some fan-placating symbolic character in a prospectively over-the-top spectacle full of Woo-esque slow-motion shots.

If Anderson ends up doing a Metal Gear film, I can only hope that he's fascinated enough with Raiden to do a film focusing on him, so that someone else can tackle Snake. It can be a comedy where Raiden tries to beat up the bad guys, but always ends up naked in a locker, with a slight difficulty sitting down and walking. (Yeah, I know he came off pretty badass in MGS4, but it's still funny.)

The other recent Anderson-related tidbit revolves around the Castlevania project. When we last heard, in July, Saw co-creator James Wan was on board to direct the film, and it seemed like a lock. Anderson has been on board as a producer for the prospective film over at Rogue pictures, but it seemed like he was ceding the director's chair to Wan's vision. However, in the aforementioned interview with Jeremy Bolt, he revealed that Anderson is once again circling the project.

These are two very brief one-sentence revelations which should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm sure comments straight from the horse's mouth (and from Wan about Castlevania) will emerge soon.

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