Mass Effect is a forthcoming film adaptation of the video game of the same name, Mass Effect. The film was officially announced by BioWare on May 24th, 2010.

Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. were to co-produce and co-finance the film. Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, and Avi Arad are producing, with BioWare's own Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Casey Hudson serving as executive producers.[1] Morgan Davis Foehl is writing the screenplay.[2] In light of Legendary Pictures's divorce from Warner Bros., it is looking to Universal Studios to distribute the film.[3] According to producer Avi Arad, the film is likely to debut in 2018/'19.[4]

The project is still in the early stages of development and no director has been hired or actors cast.

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Plot Edit

Despite initially claiming that the film would have an original story featuring Commander Shepard,[5] Legendary Pictures is now stating that the film's plot will be an adaptation of the first game's story, centering on Commander Shepard's journey.[6]

While the game allowed the player to make certain choices as Commander Shepard that affected the plot, including the Commander's gender, this will not be possible in the film medium. As such, the film's writer will be choosing a path that "...best supports the narrative of the movie and the motivations of its characters," while the Commander Shepard of the film will be a male.[6]

Production Edit

Talk of a Mass Effect film in Hollywood began in 2007, with the release of the first game.[7] Producer Avi Arad originally optioned the rights to adapt Mass Effect in September 2008,[8] however no progress was made until May 2010 when it was announced that Legendary Pictures had acquired the feature rights to the Mass Effect franchise and would be producing the film in a co-production deal with Warner Bros.. Legendary's own Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni were announced to be producing alongside Arad and it was reported that Mark Protosevich, who had worked on 2007's I Am Legend and 2011's Thor, was in talks to write the screenplay.[1]

According to BioWare's Executive Producer Casey Hudson, "At BioWare, we've always thought of Mass Effect as having the depth, emotion and plot twists perfectly suited for an adaptation to a motion picture. With Avi Arad and Legendary attached, we believe that the Mass Effect movie will be an extraordinary entertainment event that realizes our vision for the franchise and thrills fans." The film will be produced by Legendary Pictures with Avi Arad, and BioWare's Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuck, and Casey Hudson as executive producers.[9]

On July 22, 2011, Legendary Pictures held a pre-production preview panel for some of their upcoming films, including Mass Effect, at San Diego's Comic-Con International.[10][11] While nothing from the film was shown, Casey Hudson and screenwriter Mark Protosevich talked about the film and revealed some details about the production, such as BioWare's close involvement, their desire to avoid the trend of poor video game adaptations and some details about the plot.[6][12]

Screenwriter Mark Protosevich left the project sometime in early 2012.[13] It was announced on October 24, 2012 that Protosevich was replaced by Morgan Davis Foehl, who will be writing a new draft of the script.[2] Protosevich has since reported that when he came onboard the project, the concept was a straight adaptation of the first game rather than a separate story set in the same universe. After going through a few drafts of the script, his superiors called in a replacement.[7]

In August 2013, it was announced that Legendary Pictures would present the film to Universal Studios in the upcoming months, having distanced itself from Warner Bros. It is up to Universal whether the film will be distributed.[3]