Variety reports that the director of Pirates of the Caribbean will partner with Universal Pictures to make a film about Second Life, the popular virtual world.
It's to be a film about relationships, specifically based on a 2007 Wall Street Journal article concerning a man's alternate Second Life ego. In his "first life," the article's subject is a married, middle-aged, diabetic chain-smoker. But in Second Life, he's a successful entrepreneur – a muscle-bound hunk with a chain of successful (in-game) clubs and retail stores, who's "married" to another player.
It's far too soon to make any judgments about the proposed Verbinski film, which is still in the planning phases. Suffice to say, this likely won't be a "feel good" movie. The exhaustive Wall Street Journal article is largely condemning – as expected, the allure of alternate
"lives" is viewed as destructive, and addictive. While the man's actual wife fritters away her time on the couch watching television, he cavorts on a private beach resort with his virtual spouse, spending countless hours working on objects that only exist in a digital realm.
As a movie about gamers and gaming, the source material provides a really compelling narrative. But it's still kind of a shame that, as far as the "mainstream" is concerned, we gamers are either self-destructive, emotionally unstable recluses, or lovable, drug-addled adolescents who just need an attractive member of the opposite sex to steer us away from all of that pixel pushing.
Universal, Verbinski plan to role-play [Variety]
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