Since 2013 there has been talk about a film adaptation of Valve’s hit IP Portal being in the works, and now finally, after eight years, it’s been confirmed by J.J. Abrams that a script is currently in development at Warner Brothers Studios.
The big announcement came during a press day for the Blu-ray 4K release of Super 8, at which Abrams commented to IGN about his excitement regarding the film’s progress. The enthused Star Wars director let Portal fans know that the movie (which many thought could have been scrapped) is now in full swing, stating, “We’re really excited about the take and the pitch, so it feels like that thing’s finally on the rails.”
It’s no secret that J.J. Abrams has been interested in adapting videogames for the big screen, with he and Valve founder Gabe Newell announcing their potential collaboration back at DICE 2013. However, news regarding any potential films based on the beloved Portal or Half-Life series has been scarce over the years.
While Abrams’ latest announcement is reassuring in confirming a Portal movie is on its way, there’s little known about the film beyond its current status right now. Who its director, writers, or actors might be is yet to be confirmed, as well as what form the adaptation will take.
The most we currently have to go on regarding answers around Portal’s story direction comes from the hints sprinkled throughout Abrams’ statements. Abrams says of Portal’s story, “It’s got enormous potential for a lot of reasons, one of which is because of the limited narrative of the game, as ingeniously told as it is, the potential of it is so huge”.
Either way, after eight years, any news is good news, and the adaptation seems to be in capable hands with passionate Abrams and Warner Brothers. With Warner Brothers’ sizable investment and its current string of videogame movies, like Mortal Kombat and Detective Pikachu, fans can definitely expect a high-budget take on one of the best PC games around.
There is some bad news for any Half-Life fans, though. It looks like Gordon Freeman and all those murderous Headcrabs will have to wait for their big-screen debut. Unlike the Portal movie, no new information was given regarding the film adaptation of Half-Life except for the fact that J.J. Abrams’ production company is currently not involved in its development.