Konami To Produce ‘Contra’ Live-Action Film And TV Series, Fans’ Nostalgia May Make It A Sleeper Hit
Konami is teaming up with a company based in China to produce a live-action film and TV series of Contra, the classic, iconic shoot-’em-up game series.
According to SiliconEra, Starlight Film has stepped up to produce Contra’s live-action film and TV series. In collaboration with Konami, the Beijing-based company will be basing the storylines of the film and TV adaption on both the Japanese and English versions of the game series.
Based on a Kotaku report, Konami and Starlight Film will be bringing the original protagonists of Contra to life in the live-action film and TV drama, as characters named Bill and Lance. Fans of the original arcade game and Nintendo versions of Contra will know that Bill Rizer and Lance Bean are the game series’ first lead characters.
Apart from the original protagonists, Contra‘s original villain, the Red Falcon Organization, will be brought to life in the live-action film and TV series. Since the main big bad seems to be following the Japanese version of the game, it could be concluded that Red Falcon will be the primary antagonist in the live-action film and TV series of the game.
Contra’s storylines are sparse and leave a lot of room for interpretation and creativity. The success of most live-action films and TV series based on games usually depends on the popularity of the franchise and its following. Contra, being a classic arcade and Nintendo game, has enough of an audience to make the live-action film and TV series a sleeper hit.
The live-action Contra movie and TV series will be released worldwide: https://t.co/N7WwMspzJH pic.twitter.com/l4qw4BWEgV
— Kotaku (@Kotaku) October 26, 2017
If Konami and Starlight Film can write a cohesive storyline with the game’s original plot material and spark some nostalgia for Contra, the live-action film and TV series could be a notable success. As of now, it seems like the live-action movie and TV adaptations have at least gained enough interest in Contra’s fanbase.
“If it’s anything like my memories of the game as a child, it’ll be five minutes of watching two dudes somersault through a jungle, then two hours of watching them die in a hail of gunfire repeatedly before giving up and using cheat codes,” commented Natural_Justice in the r/movies subreddit.
“Chinese cinema might work for this they’ve got mad CGI and somersault-wire-work fight scenes down,” added apple_kicks in the same subreddit thread.
Konami and Starlight Film plan to stream the Contra live-action film and TV drama series worldwide. Since it seems like both adaptations are still in the early stages of development, no official release date has been announced.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iukdTPaPIVE
[Featured Image by Danny Choo|Flickr|Cropped and Resized|CC BY-SA 2.0]
