'Mission' movie going mobile first
Distributor of third "Mission: Impossible" film bypasses game consoles in favor of Gameloft's mobile service.
This marks the second consecutive summer that distributor Paramount Pictures' sister company Viacom Consumer Products has bypassed consoles and opted instead to work with the French firm.
Gameloft CEO Michel Guillemot said that the mobile initial game "War of the Worlds," also starring Cruise, was one of the publisher's top-selling titles last year. The actor has not allowed his likeness or voice to be used in any video game to date.
"As handsets become more sophisticated, the gaming capabilities will continue to exceed most people's expectations," Guillemot said. "There's all this talk about the next generation of consoles, but the next generation in gaming is in the mobile platform."
Gameloft has a multiyear license for "M:I-3," which means future iterations are likely. The first game will employ 2-D graphics and follow the film's basic plot line.
While original games remain a focus, Gameloft continues to look to Hollywood for big licenses. The publisher had success in the fall with the "Peter Jackson's King Kong" mobile game and will release a mobile game this year based on Fox's "The O.C."
Atari was the last game publisher to bring Ethan Hunt to consoles in December 2003 in the original game, "Mission Impossible: Operation Surma." While the game was not based on any film, it did feature the voice and likeness of Ving Rhames as computer expert Luther Stickell. Atari also released "Mission: Impossible" for PlayStation in 1999, which loosely was based on the first film in the franchise.