June 29, 2006 - Paul W.S. Anderson has made a career of transmuting the world of videogames to the silver screen. His resume includes Mortal Kombat and the Resident Evil films, and he's currently working on adaptations of Castlevania and the Atari hit Driver. In short, he is the perfect keynote speaker for a conference entitled the "Hollywood and Video Games Summit." We caught up with him at this event recently and asked him about the upcoming Castlevania film.

"It's going to explain how the Belmont clan and Dracula first come into contact, so in a way, it's going to be a genesis story of the clash between the Belmonts and Dracula," Anderson explained. "It's going to span the ages as well, which is one of the fun things about the games. There are Castlevania games in the 1500s, there are Castlevania games in the Second World War, there are Castlevania in the future, and we're going to take the same kind of approach. It's going to be a very mythic story spanning hundreds of years, but the key characters are going to be Dracula and Simon Belmont. And the whip is going to be intact, although there'll be lots of other weaponry as well."

When asked what aspects of the game he would retain, Anderson answered, "I was a big fan of Castlevania originally as a 2D game. I think it's had a very patchy transition into 3D, although the last two 3D games have been pretty damn good. What I particularly liked about the last two games has been the artwork that's accompanied them. I think it's got a very lush, Romantic, gothic look to it, and that's very much going to be the look of the movie. And also, the music is excellent. I think that's a very strong aspect of the videogames, and that's something we're very keen [on]."

Fans of the game may wonder how much input Konami, the game maker, will have in the production. Addressing this question, Anderson responded, "Whenever I get involved in a videogame adaptation, I sit down with the people that created it, and we sat down and had a very big meeting with Konami, and I got complimented on my use of chopsticks, so I got respect. We talked about the things we wanted to keep intact. Very much, it was the artwork and it was the music, so if we can use the same composer, I think we will try to."

Anderson is currently in the middle of production on Resident Evil: Extinction, and then will turn his attentions to Castlevania. For more information on the film as it develops, keep your browser pointed to IGN FilmForce.