Rockstar Games’ popular video-game franchise makes a bid to erect a feature film tentpole with today’s release of 20th Century Fox’s Max Payne. The studio is hoping the vfx-laden film can break the losing streak of video game adaptations characterized by such recent box-office misses as Doom and Hitman. Also opening in wide release this weekend are director Oliver Stone’s controversial W. from Lionsgate, the teen sex comedy Sex Drive from Summit Ent. and the chick-lit adaptation The Secret Life of Bees from Fox Searchlight.
Directed by John Moore (The Omen-2006), Max Payne stars Mark Wahlberg as a DEA agent who lost his family and finds himself framed for murder when he comes too close to uncovering a conspiracy. Mila Kunis, who voices the role of Meg on FOX’s Family Guy, plays an assassin who teams with Payne as she seeks to avenge the death of her sister. There’s also a supernatural event involving winged creatures call Valkyries. Visual effects for the film were provided by SPIN FX and Mr. X. The pic is produced by Julie Silverman and Scott Faye from a screenplay by Saw IV scribe Thomas H. Fenton.
The Max Payne game is a third-person shooter developed by Finnish company Remedy Ent. and produced by 3D Realms. It was originally published for PC in 2001 by Gathering of Developers, and later ported for Xbox and PlayStation 3 by Rockstar. The sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, hit stores in 2003, followed by Max Payne 3 and a Game Boy Advance version.
Payne has the highest theater count of the weekend, which should help give it an edge over the other pics shooting to knock Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua out of the top spot. Stone’s unauthorized George W. Bush biopic also has a shot at the title with all the media attention it has been receiving. The movie’s success depends on how many people are interested in the controversial filmmaker’s take on the sitting president and his journey to the White House.
