Hunter: The Reckoning Movie

From the White Wolf Website, circa Jan. 2004:

White Wolf Sells Film Rights for HUNTER: THE RECKONING® to Uwe Boll and BOLL KG

Atlanta, GA, January 16, 2004 — White Wolf Publishing, Inc. today finalized an agreement with German director/producer Uwe Boll for the film rights of its Hunter: The Reckoning horror property.

Hunter: The Reckoning is one of several horror properties developed by White Wolf as part of its award-winning World of Darkness® setting. The property’s focus is on men and women who become aware of supernatural monsters preying on humanity and who are imbued with special abilities to combat them. Since its introduction in 1999, Hunter has spawned a line of pen-and-paper roleplaying games, a series of mass-market novels and three video games from Vivendi Universal: 2002’s Hunter: The Reckoning (X-Box, Gamecube), 2003’s Hunter: The Reckoning—Wayward (PlayStation2) and Hunter: The Reckoning—Redeemer (X-Box). “Hunter has become one of our most successful mass-media properties,” said White Wolf’s President, Mike Tinney, “and we’re thrilled to see it head toward the big screen.”

"This game provides a great opportunity to produce an exciting feature film,” added Uwe Boll. “We look forward to capturing the unique and frightening qualities of Hunter: The Reckoning.” Boll and his film fund Boll KG specialize in developing films based on successful video game and media properties.

The film will be produced with Shawn Williamson (Alone in the Dark, White Noise) of Brightlight Pictures Inc. Williamson said: “This property lends itself very well to feature film adaptation. Hunter: The Reckoning is a spectacular game, and we look forward to bringing the most thrilling elements to the big screen.” White Wolf's film rights are represented by the Gersh Agency.

Since its entry into the roleplaying game market in 1991, White Wolf Publishing, Inc. has grown, maintaining an average market share of 26%. With collective book sales in excess of 5.5 million copies during this time, White Wolf is one of two undisputed worldwide publishing leaders for pen and paper roleplaying games. White Wolf properties have been licensed for television series, comic books, action figures, console and computer video games, coin-operated arcade games, professional wrestlers, replica props and weapons, interactive media events, and a myriad of merchandise. More information on White Wolf can be found at www.white-wolf.com.

With 78 million dollars in production funds raised in the past two years, Boll KG is a fast-growing film production entity based in Frankfurt, Germany under the aegis of Dr. Uwe Boll. With this most recent acquisition, Boll has emerged as a pre-eminent director and producer of films based on video games. Artisan Entertainment released House of the Dead, based on the Sega franchise, in Fall 2003; Boll is in post-production on a film adaptation of Atari’s Alone in the Dark (with Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff) in Vancouver.

Brightlight Pictures, a feature film and television production company based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, develops, finances and produces independent feature films and television projects for the domestic and international marketplace. Company principals and producers, Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson, have worked on over 50 productions in the last 10 years, including Bruce Sweeney’s Last Wedding which opened the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival and starred Molly Parker, and Alone in the Dark starring Christian Slater, Stephen Dorff, and Tara Reid. Brightlight is currently shooting The Long Weekend, a Canada / UK co-production between Brightlight Pictures and Gold Circle Films UK starring Chris Klein and Brendan Fehr. More information on Brightlight Pictures can be found at www.brightlightpictures.com.

Quoted interview from IMSOMNIAC Mania (Defunct website):

Question - In the movie "Hunter : The Reckoning" how will you match the perspective that we see in the game?

Dr Boll - We have an extremely well drafted script, it will include skin riders, ghouls and carpenters etc. It is a little complicated but they took care together with the company "White Wolf" to bring all of the game elements on paper.

Question - In the game, evil is everywhere, "they are our babysitters, policemen, bartenders and even our friends." Dr Boll, how will you display this concept without the film becoming a cheesy rip off of say "The Body snatchers"? How will you demonstrate that these characters are evil?

Dr Boll - This is a good point - everyone is suspicious - there is no place safe. It is a good question because it was a general decision for the skin rider to use his own body? He will have a split personality, where he can morph into different bodies. The writers made some very good decisions.

Question - In your movie how do people become Hunters? Will you avoid giving them a uncreative name like Blade Trinity's Nightstalkers?

Dr Boll - Hunters are hunters, is is like an underground army - not essentially made of up of an elite team - more likely containing the last survivors, some with special abilities. Our lead character will refuse to be a Hunter. He wants his normal life back - but there is no way back

Question - How will you start the movie "Hunter : The Reckoning"? A great introduction would be a multi-layered action shot introducing us to the main characters, Deuce, Father Cortez, Kassandra and Samantha? Will you combine their introductions to save screen time?

Dr Boll - Yes, they will come into the film as a group. Our lead character is called "Riggs".

Question - How will you differentiate the characters? Will you give each one a special ability, weapon or combo to impress the reviewers?

Dr Boll - We will do exactly that.

Question - There should be a lengthy use of all weapons seen in the game from twenty melee weapons, ranged and spell weapons, axes, shotguns, swords and flamethrowers, which weapons will appear in the film? How long will we see them featured?

Dr Boll - We will use all weapons and we shall have very big action sequences. There will also be a massacre in a big slaughterhouse with chainsaws.

Question - In the game the characters improve in skills and stats, how will you express this in the movie? Are you just going to give them bigger weapons to delude us that have improved? I would be most impressed if at the beginning you could make the characters miss or get in less fatal shots. Then near the end they can take out some of the characters with fatal headshots in fewer bullets with less powerful weapons!?

Dr Boll - Everybody has special weapons and abilities from the beginning on

Question - Which actors are you wanting to use for the lead roles?

Dr Boll - I do not know yet. I have a great part that Donald Sutherland.

Question - Will you use the music band "Coma"? The same band that was used for the game?

Dr Boll - I will talk to "White Wolf" about it.

Question - Will you combine CGI with live action shots to pull the effects off?

Dr Boll - Absolutely

Question - Graphical effects are always referred back to the Matrix movies these days, how will your movies separate themselves from this shadow? What unique shots are we most likely going to see that could do this for your films?

Dr Boll - I like the camera work used in "Pirates of the Caribbean", we used something similar in our latest film "BloodRayne".

Question - You can also take out the enemies piece by piece, shooting off bodyparts etc...could we see this feature often, instead of just taking out loads of enemies using big explosions?

Dr Boll - Cutting or shooting people in pieces is defiantly one of my strong sides as a director.

Question - The scenic view can sometimes let a movie down, if there is not much change in the environment. Could you blend many different environments smoothly to make the film look fantastic? Research suggests there is a cemetery, gothic church, train station and prison. Instead of copying Resident Evil perhaps the zombies could be walking around before the characters realize they are in the cemetery?

Dr Boll - Our ghouls are under a graveyard eating the dead people. A lot of skin riders are based in a hospital. The Hunters are situated in an old church.

Question - Will you incorporate a few split screen scenes? If you have seen the TV series 24, they sometimes split the screen up to follow a character and then join up again at the end of the shot. You could mimic the multiplayer features you seen in a game for a split second to make the fight sequences fluent?

Dr Boll - I do not know. I got roasted because I used videogame footage in "House of the Dead".

Question - How will you handle the choreography of the characters? Each one will move differently to the other; how will you pull this off subtly?

Dr Boll - This is interesting in a game and easy in a movie to show, with more subjective strategies at our disposal.

Question - Will we see dual gun action? A character emptying both clips at once, into all of the monsters featured in the game in just one shot?

Dr Boll - Absolutely. I have never seen this in any other movie before.

Question - Will the zombies in this project resemble those from House of the Dead? How will you upgrade your work, to make them look cooler and more horrific?

Dr Boll - We will have different special effect make up. Our zombies here will look and act even more screwed up then those from "House of the Dead".

Question - The film should also include Ghouls and Vampires! How will you portray these characters, how can you make your vampires cooler then those seen in BloodRayne and Blade?

Dr Boll - The Ghouls will look human, they will eat the dead. Carpenters will also be featured in the film - a kind of werewolf/vampires - but we will not have Vampires in this particular film.

Question - There will be 7 "insane" boss monsters right? Will you match these bosses with those in the game, a true adaptation?

Dr Boll - We cannot bring in the 7 monsters - it is not in the script that "White Wolf" approved.

Question - Will the concept artwork and downloads featured on the official site of "Hunter: The Reckoning" be reflected in the upcoming posters?

Dr Boll - Production will start soon. "Dungeon Siege" is my next project before "Hunter : The Reckoning"

Partial Mike Tinney Interview from Joblo.com:

https://www.joblo.com/hunter-clears-up/