Metal Gear Solid: Is Oscar Isaac Still In This Movie?
Metal Gear Solid has been in production for 16 years, but Oscar Isaac says the video game adaptation is still happening.
The movie adaptation of the hit video game Metal Gear Solid has found itself in development hell for the better part of 16 years. But with the announcement (a while back) that Oscar Isaac (no, not Jensen Ackles) has been cast as the iconic character Solid Snake, the Metal Gear Solid movie still looks to be a go. The big question on everyone’s mind, though, is when.
OSCAR ISAAC NO LONGER IN METAL GEAR: SOLID
Development hell indeed. Metal Gear fans were dealt a big blow when it was confirmed that Oscar Isaac was no longer in this movie as Solid Snake. What seemed like such a promising addition to the possibly budding franchise of films, doesn’t look like it is going to happen as of this writing.
The speculation was that Oscar Isaac’s schedule got in the way here, though the official reason behind his departure isn’t totally clear.
For what it’s worth, IMDB still has Oscar Isaac attached to the film, though that doesn’t seem to be the case.
OSCAR ISAAC FIRST CONFIRMED IT WAS IN THE WORKS
In March 2022, IGN managed to talk to catch up with Oscar Isaac briefly about the progress of the Metal Gear Solid movie. While Isaac confirmed that the project was still a go, he implied that the filmmakers were having a rough time figuring out the right story for the adaptation.
He told IGN, “We’re searching, we’re searching like Solid Snake. We’re climbing through air ducts, we’re looking for the story.”
METAL GEAR SOLID HAS BEEN IN DEVELOPMENT FOR 16 YEARS
Metal Gear Solid has been in the works for 16 years. Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima first announced a movie adaptation of his video game in 2006. Some big names were even said to be attached to the production, with Christian Bale rumored to take on the Solid Snake role.
But by 2010, the project was dead in the water. Now, it looks like Sony Pictures Entertainment, along with Columbia Pictures, has saved Kojima’s vision, and the production has already cast their choice for the game’s hero. Beyond that though, there’s been very little official movement on the adaptation.
OSCAR ISAAC WOULD HAVE PLAYED SOLID SNAKE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID
From all appearances, Oscar Isaac had pretty much cast himself as Solid Snake before Sony got around to him. Isaac, who starred as Poe Dameron, the Resistance fighter in Star Wars sequel trilogy, and who also played Duke Leto Atreides in the remake of Frank Herbert’s Dune, was definitely ready, willing, and able to take on the role.
You can actually see him tossing his hat in the ring below. The interview, conducted during the press tour for the Netflix film, Triple Frontier, shows Isaac giving a two-word answer when asked who he’d play in the Metal Gear Solid movie. “Snake, man,” was his answer.
This was a big get for Sony as Oscar Isaac has become one of the more sought-after actors in Hollywood. On top of all his Star Wars action, Isaac has been in The Card Counter, Big Gold Brick, Scenes From a Marriage, Armageddon Time, and most recently as Marc Spector in Marvel’s Moon Knight which can be found on the Disney+ streaming platform.
Along with Metal Gear Solid, Oscar Isaac was also attached to star in the Barry Levinson-directed feature Francis And The Godfather, which has Isaac starring as director Francis Ford Coppola and Jake Gyllenhaal as producer Robert Evans.
The feature will tell the story of the legendary battles between the director and producer as they were making the classic 1972 gangster film, The Godfather.
METAL GEAR SOLID’S DIRECTOR IS SUPPOSEDLY JORDAN VOGT-ROBERTS
The Kings of Summer and Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts was given the reins for Metal Gear Solid. Besides those two features, Vogt-Roberts has directed several episodes of the FX series You’re the Worst, as well as the Comedy Central stand-up series Mash Up, as well as Nick Offerman’s stand-up special, American Ham.
Even Kojima was quoted saying of Vogt-Roberts, “I’m convinced that no one but him can direct “METAL GEAR SOLID.”
Vogt-Roberts is supposedly directing from a script written by Derek Connolly, who made his name with his scripts for Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Jurassic World: Dominion. Connolly’s script is the latest entry for the Metal Gear Solid movie.
The original script was written by Jay Basu but what’s unknown even today is if Connolly did a brush-up, a partial re-write, or a page one new script. Connolly is a great choice to bring the movie to the big screen with the success his Jurassic World stories have found.
It also helped that Connolly already had established a working relationship with Vogt-Roberts as Connolly wrote the script for Kong: Skull Island.
It also should be noted that Connolly co-wrote the original draft of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker with director Colin Trevorrow before the director was kicked off the movie and Connolly’s script was rewritten by J.J Abrams.
Maybe they should have kept Connolly’s script, though he did keep a “story by” credit.
METAL GEAR SOLID HAS NOT SET A PRODUCTION DATE
It was quite possible that Oscar Isaac’s busy schedule affected the production schedule with Metal Gear Solid as it has yet to get in front of cameras.
Other than Isaac, though, there hadn’t been any other actors attached to the film, so a start date could be a long way off. When they do begin, the question will then be if Vogt-Roberts can deliver a product worthy of the Metal Gear Solid name.
After 16 years (and longer by the time the finished product hits movie theaters or streaming services), the expectations are high. The failure of so many video games turned movie is one not lost on the producers of Metal Gear Solid.
But with Connolly’s known ability to deliver a good script, and Isaac officially on board, the upside is looking up.
METAL GEAR SOLID FRANCHISE HAS SOLD 56 MILLION COPIES
Metal Gear Solid, the stealth video game, was created by Hideo Kojima and comes after Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, which Kojima also had a hand in creating. This particular game had Solid Snake return to infiltrate a nuclear weapons facility in hopes of neutralizing FOXHOUND from their terroristic threat.
There are also hostages that Snake must rescue while also stopping FOXHOUND from launching their nuclear strike. When players become Solid Snake, they must manipulate Snake throughout the nuclear facility undetected as he completes his missions.
If he enters an enemy’s field of vision, he must then hide during evasion mode and remain there until infiltration mode begins again. Of course, there is also a battle mode where players fight with the enemies.
When the game dropped, it sold seven million copies around the world and has been regarded by PC Gamer as one of the greatest and most important video games of all time. As a franchise, Metal Gear games have sold more than 56 million copies.
So, even though video games to feature film adaptations have been hit and miss, with many landing on the missing side, it is easy to see why the game developers would want to see Metal Gear Solid attempt a jump to feature film production.
