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HoLlYw00d GoeZ KA-RAZEE!

by Max Lake - July 3, 2001, 1:34 am EDT
Source: Hollywood Reporter

“Take me down to Hollywood!” Hop in the Crazy Taxi and let's GO! Click here to learn all about the Crazy Taxi movie and yes, Crazy Taxi 2 is confirmed for GameCube!

You may have seen this reported on almost every other game site, though I had to post it, simply to elicit comments from staff. Richard Donner is making a Crazy Taxi movie. Is Hollywood really so mentally drained of ideas that has come to this? Yes.

This is being brought to us by Goodman/Rosen, which you may remember from this PGC report. Goodman/Rosen are teaming with Fireworks Entertainment and 4 Kids Entertainment to turn Nintendo's "Perfect Dark" game into a TV series as early as fall 2002 and into a future film franchise.

"We realize Sega is a giant worldwide brand and that Crazy Taxi has been a hit at arcades and on videogame systems," said Goodman/Rosen principal Gary Goodman, who will serve as a producer on the film. "We feel we can turn this game into a mass-market picture."

But what could this film possibly be like you ask?

"The film will retain the visceral, high-energy feeling of the games," said Ford Lytle Gilmore, a producer working with Goodman/Rosden. "Fans of the game will expect a certain type of action and humor, and we'll deliver that, but we're making a movie that anyone will be able to sit down and enjoy."

It all seems pretty, well, CRAZY, except for one thing:

" 'Crazy Taxi' is one of the biggest franchises to come out of Sega in the last two years," said Jane Thompson, director of licensing and character development at Sega of America. "The 'Crazy Taxi' movie is a very important element in turning this best-selling video game franchise into an entertainment franchise."

And what about the director of this flick? It’s none other than Richard Donner, who helmed films such as Superman and Lethal Weapon and many others.

Said Donner: "I plan on doing a lot of experimentation with this film, trying things no one's really played around with, to really put the audience in the front or back seat of the taxi during the action sequences. You can do a lot more with the camerawork in a movie to make the action sequences feel like those in the game."

Donner said he believes the game will translate well to the big screen because it is grounded in the real world.

"While a lot of video games are set in science fiction environments or fantasy worlds, 'Crazy Taxi' is set in New York City with a Russian cab driver," Donner said. "If you do this right, it'll be a lot of fun."

We can see it now! Crazy Taxi THE MOVIE with Silvester Stallone as Grunge! The smart-talking street-wise cabbie trying to escape his past... Well, maybe not.

Also, Crazy Taxi 2 is now confirmed for GameCube and X-Box but not Playstation 2. WOOHOO!

Read the full report here

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