POSSIBLE SPOILERS - Bruckheimer taps Straczynski to adapt "Shattered Union"

[Dan Dassow]

More perfect 'Union' for Mouse, scribe
Bruckheimer taps Straczynski to adapt vidgame
By MARC GRASER
Variety

Jerry Bruckheimer is plotting a civil war at Disney, tapping J. Michael Straczynski to adapt 2K Games' "Shattered Union."

In the game, states secede from the U.S. and form their own governments that wage a civil war against each other after Washington, D.C., is wiped out in a nuclear blast and chaos ravages the nation. Players control one of the warring group of states -- the California Commonwealth, Republic of Texas and New England Alliance are three of the six -- or a European peacekeeping unit sent to reunify America. ...

[vakie]

A bit surprising. First of all, why Disney for a story like this? And based on a game? Never heard of it either.

The story itself seems right up JMS' alley, I guess it's a bit in the vein of WWZ and Jeremiah, some post-apocalyptic warfare. With a name like Bruckheimer and the epic scale to the story, sounds like a seriously big budget film, maybe in the $50 - $100 million range.

The only thing I'd worry about is how edgy Disney will allow the story to be.

[Jan]

My first thought was to wonder how he'd approach it. With a game, the choices the player makes decides how the game goes. I wonder how the 'official' story gets/got decided. Not to mention the point of view. Sounds interesting anyway.

And talk about word spreading quickly! I think I had 10 or 12 emails about it from my Google Alert on JMS.

Jan

[jonodan]

The plot is similar to that of the short-lived CBS show, "Jericho".... Nuclear bombs are detonated throughout the U.S. by an unknown enemy and the surviving parts of the country have competing governments vying for control...

[Jan]

Is it multiple nukes? The site I saw only mentioned that Washington DC was destroyed.

ETA: Changed the subject line a little to indcate title and possibility of spoilage.

Jan

[Doom Shepherd]

*Reads game info*

Wot?? Nah, battle lines are wrong. West, and possibly Central, PA should have gone to the Great Plains Federation.

Just because Philly is part of the state doesn't mean we LIKE them.

[vakie]

Here's the game intro, explaining the story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkpTiHSFioI

[WorkerCaste]

I wouldn't worry too much about edgy and Disney. Remember, the company has multiple film divisions including Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone and Miramax. In Touchstone, Bruckheimer has done Armegeddon, Con Air, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Coyote Ugly and more. Hollywood Pictures did The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Dead Presidents, the Rock, Grosse Pointe Blank, and The Sixth Sense.

Just don't expect to see it under the Disney Studios imprint itself.