By Zaid at Monday, June 02, 2014 6:57:00 AM

The director of the forthcoming Splinter Cell game-to-movie adaptation, Doug Liman, has confirmed that his take on the franchise will feature a younger version of Sam Fisher and that his whole interpretation of the property will be a stripped down one.









Liman revealed that he and the movie's star, Tom Hardy of Dark Knight Rises fame, are currently finalising the movie's script.





“I’m working on the script with Tom Hardy”, he explained in an interview with IGN “I think we have a great take on how to make an awesome film out of that.”





Asked about Hardy being to young to player the older Sam Fisher, Liman confessed that "everything about Splinter Cell will be younger. It’s a chance to come up with a new franchise that is fresher and newer and younger, and Tom Hardy is such an incredible actor.”





When the question as to whether or not Fisher's signature night-vision goggles would make an appearance in the film, Liman replied, “Some of the tropes of the game will for sure be in the film, but also the fun of that is when you lose them. To strip that stuff away and really make the character have to operate without it. “





Liman made the statements while on promotion for the Tom Cruise vehicle, Edge of Tomorrow, which he also directs.





Director Doug Liman

Liman's statements would imply that his take on Splinter Cell is meant to be an origin story. While Liman's skill as a spy thriller director is undeniable - he previously helmed the brilliant The Bourne Identity - you have to question the wisdom of skewing younger with this franchise . The fact that Splinter Cell's lead character is an older, experienced and jaded black-ops agent has always been one of the games' most appealing factors.





Given Liman's track record, not to mention Hardy's acting skill, the end result will probably be a very good film, but I have to wonder, that by 'stripping away', is Liman not just making another in a long line of spy films. Why even tie this movie to Splinter Cell if it isn't about a long-serving, veteran covert operator, that wears this distinctive tri-ocular night-vision headset. If ever there was a character that didn't need to be 'fresher and newer and younger', it's Sam Fisher. As his original voice actor, Michael Ironside, can attest.







