The video game company Epic Games is rolling in the dough, especially with the success of their battle royale title Fortnite. Now the company is hoping to expand their media presence into the feature film arena with the animated movie Gilgamesh, inspired by the epic hero from ancient Mesopotamian mythology.
Deadline has news on Epic Games making movies, starting with Gilgamesh. The story is based on the ancient, epic poem of the same name, which is said to be an inspiration for Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. The story follows the titular hero’s quest for immortality and a rivalry with a wild man named Enkidu who lives among the animals and eventually becomes his friend.
Epic Games will be teaming up with the Latin American-based animation studio Hook Up and Argentinian production banners DuermeVela and FilmSharks for the animated production, and they’ll be making English and Spanish-language versions of the film for international appeal. That’s probably why they’ve brought in Argentinian director Tomas Lipgot to be at the helm. Though he’s only ever directed documentaries before now, he recently executive produced a movie called The Adopters for Sony Pictures Television in Latin America.
Although animation is often geared towards kids, it sounds like maybe this will be a somewhat more mature production. After all, the story is full of copulation, violence, and material that’s not necessarily suitable for children. For their part, FilmSharks CEO Guido Rud seems to hint that that kind of approach in an official statement about the production. Rud said:
“It’s an honour to see Epic Games supporting Gilgamesh through the Epic MegaGrants program. Although animation has done an excellent job of entertaining through comedy and colorful creatures, there is also a huge appetite and opportunity to share cultural stories and tell larger-than-life mythical tales.”
Epic is planning on using their Unreal Engine video game technology to create the animation, the same tech that was used to create the virtual sets for The Mandalorian.
Epic has a massive amount of money to throw around, including their $100 million MegaGrants fund that will be invested in the production and used for future projects. They recently bought a shopping mall to turn into their new headquarters, so they clearly have big plans to expand their reach across a variety of media. Hopefully they’re teaming with the right people to tell some interesting stories and won’t be spending their money for nothing. We’ll keep you posted as this project develops.
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