An interview with Michael Roesch and Peter Scheerer: Writers of ‘Alone in the Dark,’ ‘House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim’ and 'Far Cry.’

Conducted By: SuperHeidi

What inspired you to adapt this particular video game into a film?

Michael: When Uwe started to develop "Alone in the Dark" in early 2003, we were writing the script for "House of the Dead 2". We had sent the script to Uwe and the producers, and everybody loved this script.

Peter: So on the day we sent them the other script, they read it and we got the call that they want us to write "Alone in the Dark" immediately. So we actually wrote both scripts back to back, without any break.

Sometimes Video Game adaptations go awry (Tomb Raider, Super Mario Brothers) and sometimes they end up totally satisfying audiences (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil I). What elements of the game does a film need to possess in order to be successful?

Peter: Video game adaptations need the same elements as every good movie. Sometimes you can use the storyline of the game, sometimes not.

Michael: In "Alone in the Dark" the movie is set a year after the game, and tells a new adventure in the life of Edward Carnby. In "Far Cry" we stay much closer to the storyline of the game. It depends on what the director and the producers are looking for, and on the story of the game.

Have reactions to "House of the Dead" made you nervous about the way audiences will receive "Alone in the Dark"?

Peter: No. The only thing you can do is to wait and see how audiences react.

Michael: I’ll be driving around town to a few theatres in LA, to see how audiences respond to the movie. And of course to see what the final version of the movie looks like. I’ve seen only earlier versions.

Uwe Boll tends to stick to video game adaptations. Did you have him in mind while writing this?

Michael: Uwe owned the rights for the game and hired us. At this time he had some other writers working on the script, but neither he nor the producers liked that stuff. They liked our script for "House of the Dead 2", so they hired us.

Peter: Usually we get hired before we start working on a script. We pitch our ideas to the producers and, if they like it, they hire us. With so many struggling screenwriters out there, we are really lucky with that.

Were any of the actors involved from the beginning?

Michael: No, the actors came in later, after all work on the script was done.

Peter: Stephen Dorff changed some things in the character he plays. Also the director and the producers changed a lot of stuff and mixed our script with another draft from another writer. So it will be really interesting to see the movie finally, and see how many things they have changed.

What is different about the story than the video game? What is similar?

Peter: At the beginning of the development of the script, we’ve discussed with Uwe which elements he wants to have in the movie.

Michael: The plan was to keep the main characters and the mood of the game, but tell a completely new story.

What, if anything, will please or disappoint fans of the video game?

Peter: That depends on what they expect, but we hope they like it.

Michael: We think the fans will like the huge battle scenes in the movie.

Is the story an action, sci-fi, or horror tale, or all three, and why?

Michael: It’s both action and horror.

Peter: The mixture of action and horror worked very well for this video game adaptation.