JJ Abrams Reminds Us That 'Portal' And 'Half-Life' Movies Still Exist

JJ Abrams

Many are hoping that 2016 will be the “year of the not-terrible video game movie” with the release of both Assassin’s Creed and Warcraft, projects which have attracted top-level talent. But there are always many, many video game movies in the works including a few that may have been forgotten about entirely.
Way back in 2013, JJ Abrams announced that he was working with Valve to make Portal and Half-Life movies. We have heard almost next to nothing else about that collaboration since then, and probably would not have if IGN hadn’t asked Abrams about the projects when he was doing press for 10 Cloverfield Lane. Here’s what he said in response to a question about an update:
“Not yet, but they’re in development,” he answered. “And we’ve got writers, and we’re working on both those stories. But nothing that would be an exciting update.”
That sounds like a pretty traditional “They’re stuck in development hell” answer, but I suppose Abrams is one of busiest people in Hollywood, so projects like these falling by the wayside would be no surprise.

It is unclear if these movies will ever actually materialize. Plenty of video game movie projects are stuck, despite having directors and actors attached to them (looking at you, Uncharted), but it seems like Portal and Half-Life have neither.

Recommended by Forbes

Despite being great games, it’s a little hard to imagine either of these working well on the big screen. Both feature entirely mute protagonists where it would be more than a little off-putting if either Chell or Gordon Freeman started to speak. And both are well-known for their gameplay, with story being mostly secondary. Obviously a game like Portal has a great script as well (with GLaDOS’s dialogue), but would simply transferring that to a movie and trying to fashion some sort of “hero’s quest” plot around Chell really work? I don’t know.
Perhaps there is a way to make both of these films good, but adaptation would be even harder than the much more straightforward games we see already being adapted, or struggling to be adapted, as the case may be. Because of this, and the fact that they’ve already languished for years, I have trouble believing either will ever see the light of day. With Abrams focused on his own projects and Valve turning to VR instead of games (much less movies), I’m just not sure the motivation is there. If Assassin’s Creed or Warcraft are huge hits, however, expect all these video game film conversations to change.