Home Entertainment Watch the shadows – the THIEF video game series is sneaking towards the big screen

Watch the shadows – the THIEF video game series is sneaking towards the big screen

2 min read
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Thief logo

Video game to movie adaptions don’t exactly have the best reputation. While they can be fun to watch, I quite enjoy the Resident Evil movies, fans of the games being adapted are often left disappointed when their favourite characters or story beats are mangled beyond recognition on their way to the big screen; something Kervyn pointed out in his 2.5 star review of the recent Hitman: Agent 47 and Friends.

However there’s a lot of positive buzz about upcoming adaptions of popular video game franchises Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed, and hopefully a third will steal its way into contention – Thief.

Straight Up Films have (via Collider) acquired the movie rights from game publisher Square Enix and have tapped Roy Lee (The Departed, The Lego Movie) and Adrian Askarieh (both Hitman movies, oh dear) to produce a feature film based on the popular video game franchise. Adam Mason and Simon Boyes, the writing pair behind Not Safe for Work, have been tasked with penning the script. There’s no word yet on possible directors or casting.

The franchise currently sits at four titles, the first of which was 1998’s ‘Thief: The Dark Project’, and the latest 2014’s reboot/sequel/rebooquel after a ten-year hiatus ‘Thief’. For those unfamiliar with it, ‘Thief’ sees you slipping into the soft-soled shoes of the infamous master thief Garrett as he robs from the rich to give to the poor – the poor generally being himself.

Thief header

While able to handle himself in a sword fight, Garrett prefers to strike from the shadows with his trusty blackjack or – even better – not strike at all as he stealthily loots his way through the homes of the rich and famous aided by his many gadgets – chief among them his trusty bow with its multitude of arrow types such as water arrows for extinguishing flames, moss arrows to create sound-deadening carpets, rope arrows to climb to inaccessible locations, and broadhead arrows to straight out murder people.

The franchise is set in a dark fantasy world with steampunk elements, and the majority of the action takes place in “The City” – a place ruled by a corrupt aristocracy where mechanical and technological advancement is coming into conflict with the magic of the old world; and the factions that promote them. Garrett is drawn into their struggles against his will by a secret organisation known as The Keepers, of which he was once a member.

Thief Garrett

All-in-all it’s a well-realised world with plenty of meat to it, and a main character who (for the terms of a movie) is a reasonably blank slate without tons of back story that can be developed to fit the eventual story as they see fit.

I just have one request for a Thief movie: Garrett works alone – no team, no partner, no apprentice, no comedy sidekick played by a Wayans brother – ALONE. What do you think, what do you want to see from a Thief movie?

Last Updated: March 7, 2016

One Comment

  1. RinceThis

    March 7, 2016 at 23:34

    Oh dear… This is going to be bad…

    Reply

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