Don’t grab your popcorn quite yet, folks. Fresh off the success of Split Fiction, Hazelight Studios founder Josef Fares is riding high—but he’s not ready to declare a movie adaptation is imminent. Speaking to Variety at GDC, Fares shared his excitement about the game’s impact on the industry while pumping the brakes on Hollywood hype, as he addressed speculation that Split Fiction might follow in the footsteps of Hazelight’s 2021 hit It Takes Two, which has been in development as a film at Amazon since April 2022.
“You know what I say? I believe it when I see it. Sometimes there’s a lot of talks, but nothing happens. So we will see.”
But those comments won’t stop fans from wondering what Split Fiction might look like on the big screen. The game, which follows authors Mio and Zoe as they get sucked into their own wildly different stories—sci-fi and fantasy—has drawn praise for its imaginative storytelling, clever mechanics and that twisted humor Hazelight has become renowned for.
And while the prospective adaptation is not immediately in the works, Fares isn’t precious about adapting the game’s story for a different medium. In fact, he’s fully on board with significant changes if a film ever materializes.
“We have to understand that games are an interactive medium, and movies are passive. So you have to do a lot of changes,” Fares said. “I think it could become a really cool movie, if you write it the right way, actually.”
What’s Happening With ‘It Takes Two’?
Last year, Collider‘s Aidan Kelley sat down with Pat Casey and Josh Miller, the writers of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and the upcoming adaptation of It Takes Two, which will be an bold adaptation of Hazelight Studios‘ critically praised 2021 Game of the Year. The duo told Kelley why they decided to adapt the game, and how they felt it was something they couldn’t turn down.
“So that was something that was offered to us if we wanted to be a part of it. Sonic, we grew up with. It’s a 30-year-old game. It Takes Two, when it was offered to us, I don’t even think it was even a year old yet. So we’re like, let us play the game. And we played it, and we were both like, ‘holy shi’, awesome!’”
via Collider