More strange but intriguing video game-turned-movie news: longtime creator and director of the Metal Gear Solid series, as well as head of Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima is set to produce the Metal Gear film. It gets a little unexpected when you find out Aki Saito, translator for Konami and Mr. Kojima, who is handling the film negotations, says "Paul Thomas Anderson is interested."

Anderson is a great director, to be sure (Magnolia is one of the most affecting films I've ever seen and, in spite of popular opinion, I thought Punch Drunk Love was great), but is he right for a Metal Gear film? Well, There Will Be Blood has certainly shown another side of him (he co-wrote and directed the movie) that might make you think so. While I haven't seen the film, it looked promising. IMDb describes it as "a story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business."

Certainly sounds like MGS-style stuff, dontcha think?

Also, it's great to know the video game industry commands some clout in Hallywuud. Says Saito:

"Hollywood has great respect for Mr. Kojima. They want to meet with him. Kojima will be acting as a producer, but we don't know how involved he'll be as a producer. Often Hollywood adaptations have the original game creator involved at the beginning, but somewhere along the line they fall out of view. This is why it's very important for us to carefully pick the studio for this project."