Screen Stars Vie for Video Game Voice-Overs

John Gaudiosi, GamePro

Despite the recession, video games are poised to have a great year following the record-breaking momentum of 2009. Since games cost a fraction ($10 million to $30 million) of what Hollywood spends on movies ($50 million to $500 million if you believe Avatar's reported costs), they have a better chance of succeeding if done right. Lending their talent to games also exposes actors to a huge new audience and gives them the potential to stay tapped into that audience for a much longer period of time than the average film. From Hollywood-licensed games like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Avatar to original franchises like Mass Effect 2 and Brutal Legend, more game developers are turning to Hollywood actors to bring virtual characters to life.

"Video games are more successful than films," says Shia LaBeouf, who starred in both Transformers video games. "It's just a different form of entertainment that's more of a tangible, visceral, emotional experience. Video games are emotional now. They've become cinematic, but they're filled with feeling, meaning and hope."

At the same time, the demographics of gamers has exploded over the past few years thanks to the Nintendo Wii and the iPhone.

"Video games are just in an amazing position now because people love to play them, whether they're 14 or whether they're 30... there might even be some 50 year old guys out there playing these games," says Tobin Bell, who reprised his role as Jigsaw in Zombie Studio's Saw: The Video Game. "I frequently walk into my son's room and there will be three or four guys in there playing games."

After bypassing Atari's Ghostbusters game, Sigourney Weaver went virtual for the first time with Ubisoft's Avatar game. She believes moving forward, actors should become more involved in a game's creation.

"As an actor I think we can enhance that experience for the player with what we do," says Weaver. "I think at this point people haven't taken advantage of actors (in games). We can do more than just dialogue."

One actor has done a lot more than just lend his voice to games. Vin Diesel founded Tigon Studios (The Chronicles of Riddick series, Wheelman) back in 2002. Diesel, who's hot again after Fast & Furious, has fared well in the interactive space thus far with his critically-acclaimed Chronicles of Riddick games.

"I guess I'm different from a lot of the other heads of studios in the sense that I really am a gamer, so I get to incorporate my wish list in a real way," says Diesel. "And to be in that position and to be behind-the-scenes is like a kid who loves movies, which I was, that gets to be behind-the-scenes of making movies. Needless to say, it's cool to be a part of that game-making experience."

Diesel's co-star in Fast & Furious, Michelle Rodriguez, has been on both sides of the Hollywood convergence phenomenon. She's starred in movies based on games like Resident Evil and BloodRayne, and games based on movies like the current hit, Avatar. Like Diesel, she's also a big gamer and she knows what works in the virtual world.

Anybody knows that with $20 million, and a good freaking two years, you can make a good video game," says Rodriguez. "Not freakin' $10 million and a year with a lot of publicity. Gamers don't fall for that sh*t. In a week, it'll be on f**king sale for 10 bucks."

Gamers also refuse to shell out money for bad video game movies, whether they're directed by Uwe Boll or star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"It's still a shaky marriage and it's never paid off," says director Peter Berg (Hancock, the upcoming Army of Two movie) who works both in front of and behind the camera in film and television. "Tomb Raider remains the most successful collaboration between Hollywood and the world of video games. That was a modest success. The Splinter Cell movie never happened for a variety of reasons. Halo, which probably would have been the biggest hit, hasn't been able to make a deal, and Grand Theft Auto, which would also be a huge hit won't happen either. They want to protect the brand. So far, it hasn't proven to be a hugely financial gold mine for anybody. It'd actually be nice if the two worlds could operate independently of each other."

Milla Jovovich has starred in the most successful video game-based film franchise of all time with Sony Pictures' Resident Evil films. The fourth movie, Resident Evil: Afterlife, opens in 2010.

"The fantastical worlds in video games are very visual, so they're perfect for movies," says Jovovich. "The danger is that if people are doing it just because it's a good business move they can run into problems. Gamers are sensitive to people that don't really love the games that they're making movies about. You have to love the games to make a good movie about them, and that's part of why the Resident Evil movies have been so successful."

The iPhone and iPod Touch have opened up new Hollywood gaming opportunities. Michael C. Hall, who's not a gamer, went virtual in Icarus Studios iPhone game, Dexter. "I don't know a whole lot about how existing technology dovetails into the acting business, but I know of other actors who have gotten work voicing video game characters and if there's a video game based on characters who are associated with certain actors, that creates work opportunities as well," says Hall. "But it seems like everything is sort of dovetailing into everything else at this point."

Speaking of dovetailing, Megan Fox, who has been rumored to be a potential Lara Croft in Warner Bros. Pictures' reboot of the film franchise, has starred in both Transformers video games.

"There's a crossover in Hollywood where there's a lot of scripts written for big budget adaptations of popular comic books," says Fox. "Some of them, like Street Fighter, come from the video game industry. That's happening and making gaming something cool instead of just something nerdy. It's something that's trendy and super accessible, so that's why you're seeing the surges of people getting involved."

Lance Henriksen has been involved in both a movie inspired by a game with Alone in the Dark 2 and in gaming. After providing voicework for games like Run Like Hell and Red Faction 2, he's playing Karl Bishop Weyland in Sega's upcoming Aliens vs. Predator. "Hollywood right now has some original stuff coming out, but video games lend themselves to this more," says Henriksen. "Games fit that format where the impossible becomes possible."

"As technology -- and as these incredible artists that work on video games continue to push the envelope -- the entire video game sector will explode," says Shia LaBeouf. "It's not going to go away. If anything, it will take over."