Casting Call #3: Mass Effect

Welcome my friends to another special Casting Call press release from Talking Robot Films. I, BigPopaGamer, founder and director/producer of the Talking Robot movies, would like to first quickly hit base with our past releases and why this next movie is such a huge deal and also remind the gamers out there what we are all about.

Back in 2005 we released a film, with the help of Bungie Studios and WETA to create what every gamer has wanted from the beginning, a Halo movie. Now I will admit to everyone that the Halo film was a small budget film, since most of the idiot investors did not see the potential. So we made do with what he had. $65 million was spent on the film and so far it has grossed over $200 million.

With the success of that movie, and the attention of investors, I turned my sites onto another game that I thought would make an excellent sci-fi war movie, Gears of War. Now granted I wanted to keep a very similar style with this film that we did with Halo. In 2006 we released Gears of War and hoped for the best.

The results have been nothing short of amazing. So far, Talking Robot Films have grossed over $300 million with that movie. We now have the money and recognition to pursue what is going to be quite an epic film for all.

Ladies and Gentlemen, gamers of all ages, I would to announce to you that our next movie will be the Bioware RPG experience, Mass Effect. When I first played this game I was honestly blown away, not just by the graphics, but by the depth of the story and realism of the characters. Bioware did not just create a generic RPG for us to play, they created an adventure, something that has been sorely missing for quite some time now. I knew instantly that Mass Effect would not be the same, low-budget, gritty feel that you have become accustomed to in the last two films from Talking Robot. I am opening up the coffers this time. But before I go into the details of the difficulties of this film, please allow me to introduce you to the cast of Mass Effect.

Now let me first just say that most of the alien races in Mass Effectwill probably be CGI. So the characters of Wres, Garrus, Saren and Nihlus will all be voice only. Otherwise I have tried to keep the voice actors of Mass Effect as the live actors for the human and asari characters as much as possible.

Good Guys

Live Action Characters

Commander John Shepard
First off let me say that I decided to go with the male version of Shepard. I know you can choose in the game the gender, but I think, for the sake of continuity, your Shepard will be a John and not a Jane. To sum up this character, I will quote the Project Director of the game, Casey Hudson.

"Commander Shepard is a veteran soldier, who's seen a lot of action in many engagements across the galaxy. And Shepard doesn't have it very easy either. Charged with the most important missions in the galaxy, Shepard is therefore authorized to get the job done at all costs and it's up to you to determine what that cost will be. Often, something must be sacrificed to get further in your mission, and all of Shepard's decisions are important ones, where people's lives hang on the details of each choice."

Here are my choices for Commander Shepard

Dominic Purcell



Dominic is probably become best known for his role in Prison Break, starring as Lincoln Burrows, the brother who was originally in jail at the beginning of the series. Did you also know he played Dracula/Drake in Blade:Trinity and also a minor role in Mission Impossible II, although we won't hold that against him. I believe that he can bring Commander Shepher to life quite easily as he looks the part without a doubt.


Matthew Fox



Mr. Fox is obviously well known for his role in Lost and We Are Marshall. His latest film, Vantage Point, is doing quite nicely. Like Mr. Purcell, Mr. Fox could fill the role easily but I decided that if Mr. Purcell turns us down, well, Mr. Fox surely won't.


Thandie Newton as Ashley Williams



Ashley Williams is a very blunt, outspoken xenophobic soldier whome Shepard recruits on Eden Prime. She comes from a militar family where service and honor is everything. When reviewing this role I chose Thandie for the obvious resemblance, but also because Ms. Newton is a strong and emotional actor. Thandie has recently played in The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith, Norbit. Her most well-known movies are probably Crash and The Chronicles of Riddick and like Mr. Purcell, starred in Mission Impossible II.



John Leguizamo as Kaiden Alenko



I know, I know. Some of you are thinking that I am crazy for choosing Mr. Leguizamo as Kaiden, but hear me out. The character of Kaiden is more complicated than many people see and I think he had much more potential in the game to be a major part of the story but ended up fading to the background. Mr. Leguizamo is a very animated person and can bring some life into the character as well as show the mental stability that Kaiden lacks at times, due to this biotic training.
Mr. Leguizamo was great in Land of the Dead as Cholo and in Assault on Precinct 13 as Beck. Since then his only other notable role is that of Sid in the Ice Age films.

Ali Hillis as Liara T'Soni



I honestly saw no reason not to have the voice of Liara in the game be the actress who plays her in my movie. Thus I contacted Ms. Hillis and she agreed to reprise her role as everyone's favorite lesbian blue alien. Ali was also in the Xenosaga Episode video games. Her movie roles include Must Love Dogs and her recent film, Over Her Dead Body. Mrs. Hilis is best known for her multiple TV roles.



Liza Sroka as Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya



Liza's role in this will be mostly by voice, as we never see Tali's face in the game and I don't plan on changing that for the movie. If Mrs. Sroka is not comfortable playing the physical presence of Tali, we'll just find some ugly, skinny girl to be the double and let Mrs. Sroka handle voice duties. Her only notable movie role was in Blue State. She did appear in a Step by Step episode and in Walker, Texas Ranger. So obviously she has had sex with Chuck Norris and I would be afraid to say no to her. I would probably get round-house kicked to the moon.

Keith David as Captain David Anderson



Captain Anderson is quite an intricate character in the game. He was voiced by Keith David for the game and I saw again, no reason to go with someone else. Mr. David has a very large resume and he was the voice of the Arbiter in Halo. Other videogame credits include Transformers:The Game, Saints Row, Lords of Everquest and Planescape: Torment. His movie credits are too long to list. My favorites by him are Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick and Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Crash.




Helen Mirren as Doctor Chakwas


While Doctor Chakwas is not a huge character in the game, her presence is definitely felt aboard Normandy. I had always loved Mrs. Mirren's work especially in The Hitchhiker's Guid to the Galaxy, Gosford Park, and her latest film, National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

Seth Green as Jeff "Joker" Moreau



Again, an original voice actor brought back. And it's Seth Green, cmon.

Morgan Freeman as Ambassador Udina



It's motherfucking Morgan Freeman people!! Why not right?


Lance Henrisken as Admiral Hackett



Remember that really old voice that always told you what side-missions to go complete. It was this guy, most recently known for his role as Bishop in AVP. I plan on making Admiral Hackett into a more visible character, especially one who wants to assist Shepard but does so through proper channels.


Asari Consort


I plan on just using the best looking hooker I can. I mean, we all just want to see some blue alien sex anyways right?


Animated Characters
These characters are being voiced by their original voice actors from the game. So fans rejoice, Wrex is still Wrex.

Garrus Vakarian - Voiced by Brandon Keener



Urdnot Wrex voiced by Steven Barr



Nihlus


Bad Guys
Ah the bad guys. Since there were only two real main antagonists in the game, and one will be completely CGI, it made casting this side of the table easy.

Marina Sirtis as Matriarch Benezia



Dude, she's still got it after all these years. And tell me one geek that didn't watch Star Trek TNG without having a crush on Counselor Troi. She's a little older now, but that's fine as Benezia should be older too.

Saren voiced by original actor.




Well that's it for now. I am still looking for the right director to bring this game to life. If any of you have any suggestions in that area please contact me.

My plans for this movie is to work with the writers of Mass Effect very closely to keep the plot the same. The game already is almost in a movie format. The important parts is to find the sub-plots and conversations that are not needed and to trim it down to a three hour movie. I have high hopes for this film and I fully expect it to be the hit film of the summer as well as one of the greatest Sci-fi adventures ever.