Expanding video game fiction beyond the gaming space has long been a tricky and perilous proposition. (Trying to adapt movie fiction to games has been equally unsuccessful for the most part as well). But recently, the likes of Ubisoft and Electronic Arts have managed to carry over some of their respective properties (Assassin’s Creed and Dead Space/Mass Effect for instance) into other mediums (live-action shorts, comic books, etc.).

Fairly soon, it appears that THQ will toss their hat into the “trans-media” ring by taking their Red Faction franchise from the console to the silver screen. THQ core division vice-president Danny Bilson recently told Computer and Videogames that a Red Faction movie is on the horizon, and will tie into the next installment in the series, which is set to be released next year. But don’t misunderstand. These will be two unique projects.

“My game is going to get made either way,” Bilson explained, “but what I do is I'm giving these movie guys the opportunity to meet me two or three years at the end with a triple-A, awesome game and a triple-A, awesome movie that compliment each other - and certainly don't repeat each other - and start to build a world and a fiction and all of that.”

Bilson went on to address the lack of quality in the game-movie crossover space, saying “Other companies are, 'oh, we just license this IP to this studio' and you never see anything, or at the most you see some bad Mario Bros. movie...We're going to be doing the most robust trans-media plays anybody's ever seen in the games business."

Whether THQ can succeed where so many others have failed remains to be seen, but they seem to be on the right track. Plus, Bilson has a long history in film, television and comic books, so that helps.

Source: CVG