Hollywood-focused outlet Deadline has the scoop on Sony's long-in-development Metal Gear Solid movie, reporting from its sources that Oscar Isaac has been cast as protagonist Solid Snake. Hollywood Reporter corroborated the story. Isaac has a distinguished filmography (check out Ex Machina) but is undoubtedly best-known for his recent turn as pilot Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequels.
And it turns out Isaac's been angling hard for this role for some time.
MARCH 2019.OSCAR ISAAC CAST HIMSELF AS SOLID SNAKE. pic.twitter.com/bFbZ9K2TLfDecember 4, 2020
The film is currently in development at Sony Pictures, with Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kings of Summer, Kong: Skull Island) attached to direct a script by Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed, Jurassic World). The pair worked together on Kong: Skull Island, which included a boat named Gray Fox in an homage to Metal Gear.
Shortly after this piece was posted, Vogts-Roberts confirmed the news by posting a picture of the pair.
📦🐍👀❗️ pic.twitter.com/69LTfORITVDecember 4, 2020
Vogt-Roberts was first attached to the project in 2017, and over the years has shared various teases with fans, as well as clarifying that, despite the star being Solid Snake, the movie will not be directly re-telling any one of the existing games' storylines.
Speaking to Eurogamer back in 2017 Vogts-Roberts said "It's not a direct adaptation of any particular game. It'd sound too much like a modern statement to call it a remix, because that's not what it is, but it's trying to fuse a couple of different storylines together, and it's all ties together with a device I can't really talk about right now but that I'm really excited about. I think it's going to make a movie where people go, 'Whoa, I've not seen that before,' and that's very cool. And I think it's very Kojima in its approach."
The news of Isaac's casting suggests things are starting to move, after Vogts-Roberts had said earlier this year that Covid had delayed the film's production. "I thought I was going to be on set on this movie a year ago. Right now, there's a bunch of… COVID has sort of changed everything and we're figuring out a bunch of stuff. I have no idea when it's going to go. I will fight for it every single day."
Oscar Isaac is a seriously busy man, currently starring in HBO and Marvel dramas as well as seriously big-ticket projects like Dune. Let's hope he doesn't keep us waiting.
