Continuing the semi-popular trend of transforming video games into films, Canadian publisher Strategy First announced it has partnered up with film production company Union Entertainment to bring the TBS/action video game franchise Jagged Alliance to the big screen. Film producer Nick Nunziata (Grizzly Park, Meg) has signed on to help develop and co-produce the film. The cast or a release date have not been formally announced.
Richard Leibowitz, President of Union Entertainment, praised JA‘s versatility from video game to film, saying, "Jagged Alliance is high on character and action, but with a dark humor that fans relish. Jagged Alliance has a solid premise, and its character-driven game story makes it much better suited to film adaptation than many other game properties. Those elements are key to successful game-to-film translations."
Emanuel Wall, Business Development Manager for Strategy First, said, "Jagged Alliance is a great game franchise with dynamic characters and personalities that belong on the silver screen. This project is a brilliant take on the property and we anticipate a truly original picture coming out of this series."
The first game in the series was released in 1994 for DOS. It was renowned for its blend of turned-based strategy and role-playing gameplay, sharp humor, and unique mercenary immersion. After the release of Jagged Alliance, a DOS sequel was released in 1995, entitled Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games, which introduced enhanced AI, multiplayer, and a greater variety of missions. A Windows-based game was released in 1999 titled Jagged Alliance 2, which introduced better resolution/visuals, a basic physics engine, and more weaponry. In 2000, an expansion pack for Jagged Alliance 2, subtitled Unfinished Business, was rushed to retail due to developer financial problems.
Many fan modifications have extended the life of the JA series; two prime examples are the various fan mods that helped Unfinished Business bloom into a more stable and replayable product, and Jagged Alliance 2: Wildfire, an official add-on that was released in 2004, which was spawned from a user mod. In June 2004, Russian developer MiST Land South and Strategy First announced the next two Jagged Alliance games; Jagged Alliance 3 and Jagged Alliance 3D. Since then, MiST Land South was dropped as the developer and both games are now being developed internally at Strategy First. At E3 2006, JA3D was shown to the public and received positive results.
