"Silent Hill 2," "Onimusha" Movies In the Works

The number of videogames being turned into movies continues to increase. Director Christophe Gans said a second "Silent Hill" movie will be made by Sony Pictures and Davis Films. He's currently readying production of "Onimusha," another game-to-film adaptation by Davis Films. But he said Roger Avary, who penned the original "Silent Hill," will write the sequel after he finishes writing and directing his videogame movie, "Driver," for Rogue Pictures.

Released on April 21, 2006, "Silent Hill" made $97 million worldwide, splitting the amount between the U.S. and overseas box office. That's in line with Sony' and Davis Films' other videogame movie franchise, "Resident Evil," which has a third film coming out in 2007. Gans also said that he's working on a double-disc "Silent Hill" DVD, although he won't finish that until after "Onimusha," which means fans will have to wait as long as three years for that. Gans may not direct the second "Silent Hill," because of his commitments to "Onimusha." It's unlikely Sony Pictures will want to wait long for a sequel, as the studio has released new "Resident Evil" movies pretty regularly.

Both Gans and Avary are die-hard gamers. And both Hollywood writers spent time playing the game to create the film. That won over a lot of gamers, who are very fickle with both the games they buy and the movies based on games that they see. Historically, the game movie adaptations that have worked (which didn't star Angelina Jolie) have been made by gamers. Moving forward, more game projects will be helmed or produced by Hollywood creatives who play videogames. Peter Jackson is a good example of this.