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Open Letter to Doom Fans from Script Writer 120

Posted by Zonk from the now-that's-comedy dept.
HomeLAN has a reprint of a letter written by Doom movie script writer Dave Callaham. In it he (wittily) attempts to explain why the Doom movie is going to be so unlike the game, and what his role in the creation of the film has been. From his letter: "The screenplay I wrote DOES differ in a number of ways from the games. I want to be very honest and forthcoming in saying that, and I know that I won't make any friends amongst the fans of the game in doing so. But it should be mentioned that it was never the goal of anyone involved in this film, from myself and the producers to the studio to the guys at id, to make a direct film adaptation of the game(s)."
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Open Letter to Doom Fans from Script Writer More

Open Letter to Doom Fans from Script Writer

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  • Demons... and space marines. Tada! We're all happy.
  • I always thought the plot of the games was supposed to be laughably bad. Shouldn't any real fans not have too much a problem with this?

    • If you don't know the doom setting I must express my sympaties with your relatives for you are braindead. Just in case you are one of the living dead however it is this. Marines on a mars research base overrun by demons from hell and humans possesed.

      So there is indeed no plot to ruin. Doom3 has a plot but not the original 2 games. Basically it is shooting and at the end you shoot an awfull lot and close the gate.

      So plenty of freedom to make almost any movie you want. Just as long as you set it on mars, ad

  • Summary: (Score:5, Informative)

    by Schezar ( 249629 ) on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @03:40PM (#11084944) Homepage Journal
    He basically says: "Hollywood wouldn't let me make the good Doom movie you want, and forced me to make a crappy movie that they think will sell well enough to make a profit. I'm trying real hard not to sound bitter."

    The movie is called "Doom" solely to raise press awareness of what otherwise would be a non-event. Like "Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest," which had nothing at all to do with "Final Fantasy," but used the name as market leverage.

    (Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest was the second worst game ever, aside from ET)
    • I never though mystic quest was that bad of a game, having owend it and beat it. It was just a simple rpg, nothing horible about it. Waynes World on the other hand........
    • Maybe I'm in the minority here but I love Doom for its unrelenting fast-twitch shooting -- not for its preposterous "plot", the only positive aspect of which is that it barely has the slightest impact on the game itself. If I were capable of agonizing over the fine points of Hell on Mars (Hell is now on Mars why?), I'd be a Trekkie instead.

      On the other hand, as long as the movie involves lots of shooting revenants and the fat fireball guys with the double-barrel shotgun I'll consider it.

    • Have you read the same letter as me? He claims that hollywood wouldn't allow him to make his "original" "unapologetic and hyper-violent" doom movie that we were all supposed to be love as a true doom movie.

      Ehm? Wha?

      So what is so "risky" about mars or marines? I can see demons upsetting some right wingers but they would be upset by anything. Hasn't stopped hollywood dealing with demons before.

      So who exactly is stopping him. Who is funding the movie and why? I don't believe the hollywood wouldn't accept it

      • you just really have no clue do you?

        he wrote the script. period. he's not funding it, he's not directing it, he's not producing it, he wrote it. that's it. he's not going to go "make it outside of hollywood" cause he's not trying to make it inside. in case you still don't get it....HE'S NOT MAKING IT. he's just a writer.

        he never said that he wanted to make a movie that "were all supposed to be love as a true doom movie." he said he the script he wrote was the true doom movie in his mind. he even r
        • He really wanted to write the Resident Evil movie, but they wouldn't take his script because the good guys win at the end...

          1. Write Shitty Resident Evil Script

          2. Change all 'Resident Evil' refs to 'Doom' refs.

          3. Sell to Hollywood

          4. Hide from pissed off fanbase

          5. ???

          6. Profit!!!

      • At least in the tomb raider movie they included the essential elements: big boobs, dual weilding pistols, raiding tombs. I dare say it may be a much better movie.
    • Well, a more complete summary of the letter is that (a) the remarks quoted in other articles are not his and are provably falsified, (b) he respects Doom fans and has a sense of humor (in his own opinion), (c) the Doom movie will be a thematic match for the Doom series, containing the "themes" and "elements" we know and love.

      Still, though, this does nothing to rebuke the statement that the following items will be missing from Doom, the movie:
      • Mars
      • Space Marines
      • Demons
      • Rift to Hell
      • Gory Violence

      So, basic

      • About the only other things it could contain are shotguns, chainsaws, and BFG's. Except that it doesn't contain gore so it doesn't have those things.

        So yeah, it'll be some guy running around in the dark looking for the yellow key cinematic scenes of lava pits.
    • (Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest was the second worst game ever, aside from ET)

      You sound like a man who's never played Chubby Cherub.
    • I actually liked FF MQ, probably a lot more then I enjoyed 7. Personal differences I suppose:) I loved all the FF pre 7, man those imports ruled.
    • Mystic Quest was a very important game, and was not THAT bad. Even more important, it was the first game on a very popular series, Sword of mana.
  • "This movies going to suck and depress the shit out of all Doom fans. Sorry."

  • Direct Adaptations (Score:3, Informative)

    by HAKdragon ( 193605 ) <hakdragon.gmail@com> on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @03:41PM (#11084971)
    I don't think fans of the Doom games (myself included) are looking for a "direct adaptation" of the games. However, when you take out Hell, Demons, Mars, and Space Marines, it isn't even Doom anymore.
    • Starship Troopers is one of the worst adaptations of a movie I can think of. They eliminated the powered armor, a centerpiece of the setting for the book. While the movie managed to not be horrible, it certainly is not related to Heinlein's book in any significant way. The Doom movie sounds like it will be worse.
      • Starship Troopers was so bad that scientists are trying to harness the power of Heinlein still spinning in his grave.

        No, satirizing the book doesn't count as a good adaptation. In fact, despite a few action scenes, it was a lousy movie, and it's sad to think it might turn people away from the book, which was one of my all-time favorie reads.

  • Oblig. Penny-Arcade (Score:5, Funny)

    by RaboKrabekian ( 461040 ) on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @03:43PM (#11084984) Journal
    As usual, they've commented on it already:

    Penny-Arcade on Doom Movie [penny-arcade.com]

  • Say huh? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sc0ttyb ( 833038 ) * on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @03:48PM (#11085065)
    Without all the things that makes DOOM what it is then all you really have is Resident Evil. Think about it:

    - virally-altered humans (i.e. zombies)
    - not on Mars or its moons
    - no hell demons
    - SWAT team

    If that's not a Resident Evil flick, I don't know what is.
  • ...that the themes and elements that you love about Doom are ALL represented strongly in the film...just with some new twists

    Hmmm what themes are we looking at here:
    Monsters
    Violence
    Weapons ...uh... I'm drawing a blank for any original or non-overkilled movie themes here. Just in the last year we've had Dawn of the Dead, AvP, Resident Evil 2....

  • My open letter to the scriptwriter (Score:4, Funny)

    by kc78 ( 651501 ) on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @03:58PM (#11085239) Homepage
    Thank you for letting us know exactly how you plan to bastardize this great game by making it have nothing to do with the game at all. You have told us that we all had expectations of how the film should be made, and even though you've removed them and now it's nothing at all like Doom it will still be a great game. To that, I say thank you. However, do allow me to let you know that I understand your expectations of how I will watch said film by paying 10 dollars at the local theatre. I had orinally planned on doing this, but as my involvement in said movie came along things slowly changed. Allow me to comfort you that even though I shall not be watching this movie the way you planned, you will still love it when I download it for free. Yours truly.

  • Oh boy. This guy is a scriptwriter? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SmallFurryCreature ( 593017 ) on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @04:00PM (#11085291) Journal
    Doom is doom. It is marines at a research base on mars being overrun by the legions from hell. This story could be found in the readme.txt in the original Doom. If you bothered.

    Doom 3 expands a bit on it by adding such nicesties as in game story to the mix. It adds a "bad guy" or something.

    Now after years of talk someone is trying to turn the Doom game into a movie. We get a list of staff that belong neither on the A-list or the cult list. It screams direct-to-video.

    Then all we hear is about things they are going to change. I could understand if this guy was a Steven Spielberg but surely he can't be that deluded? You are a nothing given a ready made universe. USE IT. MILK IT. We hear things like cost being bandied about but how expensive is a mars base anyway? Geez this is the age of CGI. Hell you got the sets in Doom3. Rerender and keep the shots very short. This guy is only showing how crap he is by complaing about budget. Exactly how much did the shot in Star Wars cost that firmly set luke on an alien planet? I am not a photographer but what is the cost of a double exposure nowadays? All you need for a mars exterior is a sand desert with a red filter. The BBC can do it for a docu/drama.

    Now he is complaining that the fans are upset because he is taking all the doom out of doom. Note that he doesn't actually refute any of the changes that are rumored.

    Learn something from better movie makers. learn something from every goddamn suckass bad game license movie that came before. You got a very simple frame work in wich you can make one hell of an action movie. All you need to do is have the hero be a marine, set it on mars and the bad guys are demons or possesed humans. The rest of the story is up to you. You can make it an alien or an aliens. You can make it pure horror or comedy. You can add a love interest JUST AS LONG AS IT IS ON MARS, HAS MARINES AND DEMONS.

    What the fuck is this guy problem. I would very much like to know what the people at ID are thinking. Are they paid a huge amount for the license or have they never watched any of the other game license movies. I don't think a new Doom is planned so are they planning to really sink the license once and for all?

    The guy seems to have a George Lucas attitude that the fans will just have to swallow what ever he makes. One problem George Lucas got big before his ego swelled. The current George Lucas has with the new star wars movies not repeated the success. The first three movies are a part of culture. The new ones are not. Just make a proper Doom movie then use your fame to make your virus swat team movie.

    Oh well maybe Half-life will get a proper movie. Oh, they wanted a love interest for Freeman? Never mind.

    • hmmm, there seems to be a common problem here.

      do you know the meaning of the word scriptwriter?

      he's not making the movie, he's not directing it, he's not producing it, he wrote it. period. you're write, he's not Speilberg & he's not Lucas. say it with me slowly, he's a w-r-i-t-e-r.

      geesh, all he's saying is that you're right, the producers and directors are screwing it up, but he had little say in it. he's washing his hands of the matter if you will.

      i remember back in the day when a little thing
      • Did you read the letter?

        "I am pretty much solely responsible for that, since it was my pitch and my screenplay that got made."

        He never wanted to make a Doom movie. He wanted to make a movie in the Doom universe.

        It's like making a movie called "Marvel Universe" about a housewife's illicit love affair with her pool boy.

        He's keeping the theme of the games minus the demons and minus Mars. So we'll get a Will Smith movie with a BFG thrown in. Good thing they're using the Doom license.
      • He's not washing his hands of the matter. If he was washing his hands of the whole project, his name would not be attached to it. He wouldn't be pulling a paycheck from the bastardization of the Doom franchise, and worse than that, his original script.

        He's still attached to it, though, so he's just as responsible. By accepting that paycheck, he's basically going 'yeah, it's horrible they are doing this, but they are paying me a shitload of money. Oh well, how horrible of those evil hollywood.. oo, my check

    • Re:Oh boy. This guy is a scriptwriter? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by CoolGuySteve ( 264277 ) on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @09:58PM (#11089378)
      I could understand if this guy was a Steven Spielberg but surely he can't be that deluded?

      Ya but if Stephen Spielberg directed, he'd probably keep replacing the guns with a flashlight and distort id's original vision. Oh wait...

      Really though, if I remember correctly, a significant part of Doom 2 took place on Earth. Considering that the budget might not allow for a Mars base without looking rediculously cheesy, a movie set on Earth would still be true to the original source even if it's not as cool. I haven't been following this movie though and it's not clear where it's being set, so whatever, I'm probably wrong.

      Anyways, I think it's obvious what happened here. Resident Evil: Apocalypse just made a decent amount of money on a tiny budget and now some studio execs are trying to me-too themselves into the same situation. Consequentially, they're trying to reduce their investment risk by making it as close to RE as possible since that property has already shown success. You see it all the time in movies, like when they release a bunch of natural disaster movies within months of eachother. To these people, the Doom property isn't a story or a setting, it's a brand. They're hoping to make a quick buck on name recognition as Doom is a pretty famous gaming franchise. I'm guessing that any interest in actually keeping the Doom universe intact is peripheral at best and only exists to keep from alienating casual gamers.

      Similarly, biological weapons and desease are in the news right now whereas demons erupting from Hell are not. If you're funding a movie that seems pretty shitty to begin with, it would probably be in your best interest to choose an antagonist that most represents your audience's fears even if that manifestation is pretty rediculous.

      • Doom 2's storyline (Score:3, Interesting)

        by MMaestro ( 585010 )
        Roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of Doom 2 took place on Earth, but Doom 2 makes absolutely no sense without Doom 1. In Doom 1, you find the root of the problem and enter it (episode 1.) Episode 2, you find the experiment gone wrong, you kill the guard at the portal (the cyberdemon) and enter the portal into hell (cue episode 3). You fight through Hell, you kill the 'General/Commander' of the forces of Hell and go through the same portal being used to invade Earth in order to get home. You get home, but find Earth overru

        • Wouldn't D1 being on Mars and D2 being on Earth set things up nicely for a movie and its sequal?

          Doom, the Movie: Bad-ass marine gets in a just dispute with a superior officer, and is exiled on a moon of Mars, where a corporation is performing experiments for the military in (what is rumored) teleportation.

          Of course, bad things happen, and people end up dying, leaving only our hero left. (All of the above happens in the first ten or fifteen minutes of movie length.) Our hero then spends the next ha

          • I think the order that they go in is mostly irrelevant if you twist the plot slightly.

            Make the first one on Earth with a main character that has a slightly different back-story and if it's successful, have him go to Deimos and Phobos with a bigger budget and face real monsters. All you need to know on Earth is that a portal from hell opened, they can slowly unravel that it started on Mars and set up what was Doom 1. If a third one gets made, then send him into hell for the final showdown. Then he can ge
            • Except for the fact that you leave yourself with a stupid, undeveloped main character like every other marine. If its done the way you set it up (Doom 2 > Doom 1 > Doom 3) then still end up asking yourself questions 1, 3 and 4. On top of that, if a second movie ISN'T made then it turns out just the way people are complaining about here : a no-backstory horror/zombie/monster flick with weak characters and a horrible plot.
      • Ya but if Stephen Spielberg directed, he'd probably keep replacing the guns with a flashlight

        I, for one, was looking forward to the seeing the Big Fine Walkie-Talkie 9000 in action.

        Not to mention the double-antenna walkie-talkie and the walkie-talkie launcher.

    • I would just like to point out that George Lucas already had a giant ego before he got big. In fact, it most definately played a very large part in how he got "big".

      Let's not confuse "having balls" and "being a dick". Dave Callaham has balls. He had an idea, and he sold it. If the studios are being dicks for tearing it appart and disappointing you in the process, it's not his problem.

      He still has the balls to stand up for himself and tell you what's what. But obviously, you and many others still feel co
    • Your post is great and I agree with you, but you're targeting the wrong person. The writer wrote a screenplay set on Mars, with space marines and demons - but there are people on the production - and he can't name them because he will get in Deep Shit - who are steering the thing towards their "vision" which in most cases with these fuckers is a pastiche of the last ten dumb films they have seen.

      Remember, Giaman and Pratchett's Good Omens screenplay was sunk by insane story notes from an executive produce

    • "We hear things like cost being bandied about but how expensive is a mars base anyway? Geez this is the age of CGI."

      Seriously. Why don't they use a simple blue/green screen? 5-6 weeks into my (one day a week) TV Production I class we learned how to do blue screen effects, and it's nothing new in Hollywood.
      All they need to do is build a nice interior of the Mars base set, which I assume they're doing with the Earth base, and just put a blue sheet around all of the windows. In post-production you can add
  • so why make a movie with this name then? Why not some generic name. Doom and Movie constitutes a specific expectation attitude. It builds upon the knowledge of what the game is like. No more words. My left shoe is similar to my right shoe, but its not the same, doesnt matter how many letters I write to my feet, it will not change. Everything else is just a means of trying to "sell" it now the way it is or put on the perceived audience a manipulative view of the subject matter. have a nice day

  • The "I, Robot" movie had very little to do with the book either. Yet more proof that Hollywood is creatively stagnant. Blade Trinity is a stinker as is Oceans 12. Bleh.

    • Hero was quite good (although foreign), and I really enjoyed The Incredibles. I liked De-Lovely, and will try to catch the Aviator this weekend. I've heard good things about both Ray and Finding Neverland.
      The point is there has been a ton of crap this year (as every year) but there have also been plenty of excellent movies released this year if you look beyond the some of the popcorn flicks. I'd hope that anyone who cares a whit about creativity would not hold a sequel to a remake of what was originall
    • They actually admit that "I, Robot" the movie had little to do with the movie. Usually, movies will say "based upon," but "I, Robot" is "suggested" by the short story collection of Asimov. What the hell does suggested mean? Is it like an inspiration, but just not as good an idea?

      I'll agree with you on Blade Trinity. I mean come on. A vampire Pomeranian and Triple H gets beaten up by Van Wilder. Whatever.

    • Geez, I missed Ocean's 1 to 11?
    • "I, Robot" did take a lot of liberties. But, it kept the core idea that the original books were trying to get across. The three laws can work perfectly and still produce an undesired effect. Morality cannot be simplified to such a degree.
      • I'd have to agree - I, Robot wasn't like the short stories exactly, but the filmmakers proved to me that they got the "point" of the three laws - they just modernized things and action-ed up the plot a bit, cuz that's what hollywood does.

        As far as doom goes, why even make a movie? it's a ridculous plot that only serves to set up a game where you can use all kinds of cool weapons against hellish beings from a different dimension.

        If they don't have Hell, or demons, or Mars, I at least hope they have explodi
    • I think the problem is that this "adaptation" is particularly egregious, even by Hollywood standards. Sure, maybe "I, Robot" had little to do with the book.

      But at least it had robots.

  • Then why the heck did you name it Doom ??? Or Holiwood ran out names for the movies ?

    • DooM was used as the moniker because, like was aforementioned, the title "Resident Evil" was already taken. C'mon, kids love zombies! Sexy zombies! Oh, and instead of Mars it's at the beach! Kids love the beach! And they eat Doritos! And drink Dewars! The Pepsi folks had a few changes, that's all.

      My favorite quote:
      "Finally, to the fan that suggested I get an enema (ostensibly to clean out my head, I think): That was awesome."

  • Obviously... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @04:16PM (#11085551)
    it was never the goal of anyone involved in this film... to make a direct film adaptation of the game(s).

    ... because you can't make a film WITHOUT ANY FREAKING LIGHTING!

    • "[...| direct film adaptation of the game(s)." as in first person perspectitive?

      No problems with this, but without all the elements that make up the narrative or are part of it like hell and demons and the subjective quality of what Doom used to release emotionally or otherwise, there really is nothing left of the original but the name.

      In your quote he speaks about "game(S)". Doom x3 do not share lighting issue.

      One could at least have tried to write an adequate representation of this game that defined so

  • Doom: The Movie: The Game (Score:3, Funny)

    by EddieBurkett ( 614927 ) on Tuesday December 14, 2004 @04:47PM (#11085940)
    I look forward to when the game based on Doom: The Movie comes out. It should be fun to play a generic fps where you run around shooting zombies.

    Then again, an fps wouldn't show off the lead actor, so it will probably be a straight platformer.
    • Well, since Doom: The Movie is being made more like Resident Evil. Maybe Doom: The Movie: The Game will be a generic FPS with a Resident Evil control scheme.
    • Then again, an fps wouldn't show off the lead actor, so it will probably be a straight platformer.

      What do you mean? There's probably a picture of the player character (with all of that acting-ability glory!) in the status bar...

  • Why call it doom then? From what I've heard about the plot, it just sounds like a sequel to "28 Days Later" maybe they should just call it "Another 28 Days later"??

    When is Hollywood going to give us what we want?? Instead, we once again get a resounding "Fuck you".
  • I wish to thank the writer, director and the studio for being so forthcoming regarding what a load of crap this "Doom" franchise movie will be. They have saved me the price of a movie admission (and of course snack food) and the horror of seeing another poorly done Game to Movie release. Congratulations on destroying your product before it ever got off the ground guys, you could write a good "what not to do with a valuable IP" book. Anyone who might have cared or wanted to see this film have written it off
    • >> saved me the price of a movie admission (and of course snack food)

      5 x nacho tubs, 3 family size sodas, 5 foot long hotdogs and 2 tubs of mega-sized popcorn swimming in butter?
    • Seriously. C'mon, if you don't have Mars, demons, marines and a research experiment gone bad opening a gateway to Hell, IT'S NOT DOOM. That they want to change the plot so bad it's retarded - we've already seen movies with similar (and much worse) plots than the original Doom.

      I wanted to see a Doom movie, but i'm getting an average action movie with the Doom name plastered on it. No thanks.

      PS, from the article...

      "(someone out there on doomworld.com sure loved the idea of Howie Long as Doomguy
  • Sure, no problem Mr. Callahan just keep up with your plan and do the movie with your little script, and I will keep up with my plan and I wont go to the teather to watch it. I also will warn all my friends and coworkers about your movie being a complete transvesty with no relation but the name to the game and no other intention but to take their money for being gamers. Im pretty sure they will be delighted not to go.

    By the way Mr Callahan, obviously you dont care about fan complaints about your RE 28 day
  • Just watch John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars - it was uncannily like Doom.... from the deserted space bases, to the look of the 'possessed' - hell, it was even on Mars!

  • A Doom movie?

    Bio-Force Deal.

    (Hint: this is a reference to the renaming of the BFG...)
  • about the Super Mario Bros Movie, and how it scared me into hating the game.
  • I would rather have some sort of tongue-in-cheek movie. Put Bruce Campbell's Elvis from Bubba Ho-Tep in it or something. ("Come and get it, you undead sack of shit." [imdb.com])

    Call me a strange Doom fan, but my taste for giblets and hellspawn does not translate to the silver screen for me.

  • "This is Hollywood. We wanted to take a viable franchise, bastardize it, and make a fourtune off of the tie-in. At no point were we going to be true to the game or the fans. So fuck you, and give us your money"

    Thats all I hear when I read this.

  • They try to make a movie about Doom, and they completely miss the point. They look at a game for inspiration and there's a perfectly good book. A TRILOGY. Forgotten. Prize-winning literature, forgotten.

    And don't get me started on the comic. [doomworld.com]

  • Obviously we can't expect you to comment on your feelings about these developments, but I'm curious if you guys retained any control or input over the film?

    [I guess there's little chance of an answer, but I thought I'd throw it out there]

  • The movie is supposed to be Doom, right? Well, shouldn't it be spelling Doom then? I can't see it being any more Doomed than this.
  • Open letter from DoomedWhisky Product Manager Glenholwood distillery:
    Sometime in the last week or so there was quite an uproar over the announcement of our latest DoomedWhisky product.

    The DoomedWhisky produced does differ in a number of ways from our other very popular whiskies. I want to be very honest and forthcoming in saying that, and I know I won't make any friends amongst the fans of whisky in doing so.

    But it should be mentioned that it was never the goal of anyone involved in DoomedWhisky to make i
  • And it's called "Ghosts of Mars" [imdb.com]. A group of Martian archaeologists dig up some alien ruins and set free evil Martian "ghosts" which take over the bodies of humans, even when dead. A group of military commandos/criminals face a enormous numbers of possessed zombie-like creatures and attempt to escape. The only thing lacking is some green armor and big over-the-top plasma based weapons. Oh and demons.

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