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Nolan confirms Inception game

Filmmaker says adaptation of big-screen thriller is definitely on--but a long way off from release.

201 Comments

In September, filmmaker Christopher Nolan delighted Inception fans by saying he was considering a game adaptation of the mind-bending big-screen thriller. Today, Entertainment Weekly reported that the project is definitely on.

It's no dream: The Inception game is definitely on.
It's no dream: The Inception game is definitely on.

"I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place," Nolan told the magazine. "At the moment, the only direction we're channeling that is by developing a video game set in the world."

Once again, he said any Inception-based game would be "a longer-term proposition," with his primary focus at the moment being the third Batman film. Nolan also declined to mention a developer or publisher for the project, although the movie was financed and distributed by Warner Bros., which has a growing game arm and several internal studios.

Written by Nolan, Inception follows Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), an industrial espionage agent who extracts secrets by entering subjects' dreams. After a mission goes awry, he is hired by a Japanese industrialist (Ken Watanabe) to perform a feat known as inception--the planting of an idea in a subject's mind. After assembling a team of subconscious experts, he attempts inception on the scion of a powerful business empire (Cillian Murphy)--and multiple complications ensue. It is due out on Blu-ray and DVD on December 7.

The Inception game will be the second game based on a Nolan-directed film. In 2005, Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive entertainment copublished a Eurocom-developed PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance title based on Batman Begins. Another game based on The Dark Knight was rumored to be in the works at EA's Pandemic Studios but was canceled some time before the shop was effectively disbanded in late 2009.

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gashoe13

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As long as he doesn't try to translate the movie's events themselves to the game, this COULD be plain awesome... But the world of dreams is incredibly versatile. You can alter physics, you can alter entire landscapes, you can create stuff, you can add features, and there are multiple layers of dreams... I wonder how this will translate to a video game. The game will probably have some stealth elements, along with some all out shooting action, and likely some vehicular combat. Sounds like a winner to me if it's done properly. So much potential... Oh, and the story had better be written by Chris Nolan.

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theIDENTITYof

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ohman, I think it's definitely a great concept, it just depends on if they'll be able to do it well or not...

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The_Dude1212

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He'd have to have a whole universe set behind this to make it into a franchise, and as amazing as Inception was, I don't think a direct sequel is possible. Prolly just to keep that first ending intact, they'd have to use a whole different cast, with maybe one or two of the others making a surprise appearance as a sensei or something like that.

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Ryan_Som

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@ mrhagane Batman: Arkham Asylum was developed by RockSTEADY, not RockSTAR. I know Rockstar is a huge dev with a history of great games under their belt, but seriously, give credit where credit is due.

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lazycomplife

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Inception (game) should be made by Quantic Dream

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CreatureRising

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Oh dude, imagine this game on a 3D TV

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SocialAnXieTy

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The concept of Inception could work incredibly well on a video game, but I don't see Warner Bros. doing it properly. I just feel like it'd tarnish the good name of an amazing film, is all.

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3MJ4YC

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a cross between james bond game and ecochrome

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Dynamo11

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Oh god no, movie games are awful and even if this one isn't I wouldn't want to run the risk.

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sid440

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if it dosnt fallow the movie it could be a great game

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DrEvilKoala

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Personally, I hope it will never see the light of day. The Dark Knight luckily remained uncorrupted by the commercialism of movie-based games, and it would be a darn shame to see Inception go down that way.

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im-a-roustabout

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As much as I would LOVE to see this game, I have this feeling that it will NEVER see the light of day. He still has to rap up The Dark Knight: Rises which won't be finished till 2012 and the movie will be more 2 years old, and by the time the game is complete it would have been 3+ years. I don't see this coming out unless he's planning a sequel.

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Cetanu07

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i think it could be a success if you make it like heavy rain

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Psychokillaz

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It can be good IF it is not a movie game.

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xdude85

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I guess Nolan needs something to further inflate his overrated ego.

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DKant

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Well, the good thing here, is that they're not planning the game as a movie tie-in, and the game is going to exist for its own reasons. For that alone, I'm grateful and now, hopeful. I mean, this has just as much chance at being good or bad as any other game now, being not extra-crippled by an impossible schedule and not overseen by a marketing department that wants the game made "just 'cause". So game-to-movie or movie-to-game (or book-to-random-medium) adaptations don't HAVE to be bad; they just have to be done for the right reasons. And this - "I always imagined Inception to be a world where a lot of other stories could take place," Nolan told the magazine. "At the moment, the only direction we're channeling that is by developing a video game set in the world." - is as good a reason as any. :)

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Fartman7998

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Wow awesome. @mrhagane, I liked the EA LOTR games. Good ol' hack-n-slash action with some upgrading. Many hours did I spend on those games. Actually, only The Two Towers and Return of the King were good. The rest were bullshista. I mean, come on, Return of the King was an awesome game. It had a lot of replayability, it had unlockable characters and levels, you could grind to gain experience, it had great cooperative play, there were boss battles and a ton of levels anyway. The only thing missing from that game that would make it even MORE of a classic would be achievements on Xbox Live Arcade. Come on EA, do it!

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mrhagane

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oh please... not EA and warnerbros again, they always sucks when making game adaptation from movie, did you remember LOTR and Harry potter game? yeah and both of them really sucks... at least rockstar (batman arkham) who handle it..

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mrhagane

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i 100% agree with aurontsubaki85

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AuronTsubaki85

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I always enjoyed Christopher Nolan's films ever since Memento came out. Of course Movie to Game adaptations never turn out good except for a few that I liked (examples: Mario Puzo's The Godfather I & II, Scarface: The World Is Yours, Goldeneye 007 (Not the horrible Activision remake, the real deal from N64) & The Lord Of The Rings movie games & The Warriors.) I think somewhere a movie to game adaptation of Inception could have potential under the following examples: 1. As long as Christopher Nolan has creative control over the project it should be no problem. 2. Start with a fresh new storyline. Perhaps work on a fresh script with his brother Jonathan. 3. Get a pretty good development team to help out with Warner Bros. Interactive (Don't go with someone from EA or Activision: I'm looking at you Robert Kotick) without it being a rush job. 4. Stay true to the source material & it's elements. and 5. Introduce new characters into the game.

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hillseye18

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mark wahlberg for nathan drake, now this????

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Rekunta

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I'd rather play a game based on Paranormal Activity.

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DisturbedClown

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Am I dreaming this?

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Horusalis

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I'm excited to see what's going to happen with this game. I realize movie to games or games to movies generally do bad but I enjoy a lot of them. (Example: Movies- Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat. Games- Matrix: Path of Neo and the Lord of the Rings movie games). A lot of people expect the game to movie or movie to game to be the exact same thing when it's not going to be. If it was going to be the same then you're better off just playing the "original" game or movie.

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riou7

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riou7  Moderator

I have a bad feeling about this.. :|

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LordRaymond

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Hm going to buy Inception on Blu Ray and the game as well with Nolan quality stamp of approval lol.

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RadicalToenail

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@KillerBill316 Damn straight it was and any movie-based game can be just as good, or better, with the right kind of steam behind it. Most developers are paid large sums to mash out a game without much effort to:

a. Get it out in time for the release of the movie.

or b. Make a quick buck off the name of the movie.

Developers that take the time and aren't rushed to get a movie-game out tend to do much better. Inception is already out and Christopher Nolan is a very creative and respectable guy who might care more about the creative process and thought put into something rather than the financial outcome.

Only time will tell if he is, but with his movie track-record, he has proven to be above the generic action formula and puts character and creativity first. So, I am hopeful.

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jedediahpelland

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Im not sure whats worse, movies adapted from games, or games adapted from movies. Either way they almost always turn out sorta generic.

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Ilikemyname420

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To get a game to follow in the footsteps of that movie would be a pretty hard task. I can't picture it working out very well.

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GrimMonkey

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This ought to be interesting. I wonder how they'll market a game based off a film that was released years earlier.

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DarkBox360

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Look on the bright side. There is a good chance that it will be good because it is not being released to coincide with the movie release. They also haven't announced a developer yet so keep your fingers crossed.

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KillerBill316

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@Absolutezerr "The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay" was pretty good.

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Absolutezerr

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Games based on films that have been good: Goldeneye Spider Man: The Movie on PS2 Here's to hoping I can add a third game to this list at some undefined time int the future.

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kickblocker

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this should be kinda good. because they wont have to rush to me the deadline of the movie release date since it was back in june, they can take as much time as they need

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uncleTACO8873

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please don't f@ck this up

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karpenterskids

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This is actually the perfect venue for this. Inception 2 wouldn't have anything to run off of (I mean...a dream that's more complicated? C'mon.), and as a fan of the franchise, I'd definitely play the game.

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BreakingSpecter

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I wonder how this will turn out.

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Kristmas2

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It will be a disaster LOL :D:D:D:D:D I cannot wait to see a review:):):):)

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TXGAMER7

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i hope the developers actually think outside the box so the game won't be so short

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lfebaggins

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The only game based off a movie that was any good was Goldeneye, other than that they have all been failures, despite being based off of extremely good movies. I absolutely loved Inception but I doubt this will be any good.

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OGKNav

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Well this could turn out very awesome. Or very bad.

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amari24

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I say it's 50/50. I mean of late, I've played some really good movie based games. On the other hand, I've played some really bad ones.. so it's hard to tell how this game will turn out.

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deactivated-5a5f623fa2551

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Movie-based games were getting good for a while (about half a decade ago, or so). They've been kinda crappy lately, though. I think I'm pretty safe not expecting much from this one.

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smiseck

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NOOOOO, we all know how movie based games turn out.

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Afbb1

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If they are smart about it, this could turn out to be something really worth buying. However. The worst possible thing they COULD do is continue from where the movie left off for any plot twists. They should go back into Cobbs previous assignments. Oh man I hope they are smart about this.......

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dagrimmreepa

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@EbeneezerGoode What contradictions are you talking about? I agree with you that it's not half as complex as people think it is, but from I what I gathered, there were no holes in the plot and the script was very tight.

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dagrimmreepa

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Inception was a very good, tightly written thriller that is nowhere near as complicated as people make it out to be. I watched it once on the big screen and understood everything, if you didn't - you weren't paying attention. If this game is supervised by Nolan and made with the same quality that he makes his movies, I can definitely get on board with that. If anyone is looking for a truly complicated movie that will most likely require a second viewing to be fully understood, watch a little indie flick called "Primer", it's about a group of university students who build a time machine. It's awesome.

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EbeneezerGoode

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already wasted 2.5 hours of my life on watching that overhyped pos movie, so I'll just say "if the game is like the movie then I'm sure it'll get rave reviews and 10/10 ratings... and be a steaming crock of pseudo intellectual bull made for dumb people to think they are clever cos 'they get it' (we all got it, it's just not half as clever as it likes to think it is, it has so many self contradictions layered on top of poor script and bad direction...." I'll just leave it there, I'll only get down voted anyway.

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baconnnnn

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This game needs to be like heavy rain and have 25 different endings. can you imagine choosing your destiny for all of the characters. kill them or keep them . you choose

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fetusfart18

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@FidelSarcastro. no, no, I agree on all those points. Limitations of the game engine no doubt, but from a story/character/nostalgia perspective, it nailed it. Then again, I grew up watching Ghostbusters more times than I care to admit, so yeah...that pesky nostalgia likely played it's part.

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