Bruckheimer on games, films

Action movie kingpin Jerry Bruckheimer believes games and movies will be visually interchangeable within the next decade.

Promoting his new games-related movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, he told HeyUGuys, "I really believe in the next ten years you won’t be able to tell the difference between movies and games. Games will be so realistic. They are a form of storytelling and we love to tell stories in movies and on television."

But Bruckheimer’s approach to turning a game into a movie – here in 2010 at least – follows Hollywood traditions of trying to take what’s right for the format. "We’ve kept some of the action and the cool stuff they did with the game," he said. "We kept as many of the characters as we could. But it’s like a book. You never get those as close to the film. It’s a movie, not literature. You are constantly changing things."

He also said that pleasing fans of the game series has not been a high priority. "The fans are important to us and you hope they will show up but you can’t count on them as you never know. Kids who are playing the game might not be by the time the movie comes out. You try and make a film that will entertain with really interesting characters and themes. If you do that, then everybody comes. If you just rely on the gamers then you are missing a whole market out there."

Bruckheimer’s interests extend to the games market – last year he set up a games development studio.