Celebrity Byte

What are the challenges that games introduce to you as a writer?

The immersive quality of games makes them really exciting for adaptation, but it also makes it really difficult. What makes them a strong candidate for adaptation also makes it difficult in that the proprietary feeling that people have over the avatar immediately creates a larger-than-life challenge that you wouldn't normally have adapting any other media.

Roger Avary at the Silent Hill Premiere in Los Angeles, CA. Photo by Jeffrey Mayer.

Your next film is an adaptation of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Have you played through that game yet?

I had already played through the game again by the time we did the deal last summer at QuakeCon. As a matter of fact, long before that time. I had finished Return to Castle Wolfenstein back when it was released on PlayStation 2.

How has working with id Software been going?

id Software gave me BJ Blazkowicz's history...where he came from, the fact that he wasn't anti-semetic...I knew all of this to begin with because there's enough information that's already out there, but it was actually really helpful and I've never had that before. I had a detailed bible that tells me what I can and can't do and what kind of restraints there are, and I have to tell you I was really grateful to receive it. It was really a good thing to have.

Not only do I play video games, but I used to be a programmer back in the Atari 5200 days.

You're one of a growing number of Hollywood writers who actually play video games.

Not only do I play video games, but I used to be a programmer back in the Atari 5200 days. I now collect and restore vintage arcade machines--specifically only Atari vector machines. I just got mint condition Black Widow and Gravitar machines. I didn't have to restore them, they were in perfect condition. I couldn't believe it because my Battle Zone and Space Duel needed some work. I have a Tetris that's actually down right now that if I had time, I'd actually be in there replacing the capacitors.

Roger Avary looking very Beowulf-ish at the Rules of Attraction Premiere in Hollywood. Photo by Gregg DeGuire.

So you have a pretty good size arcade, in your house somewhere.

In my office, mostly. I've got a Lunar Lander that I'm very proud of. It's in near mint condition. The only game that I have that's not specifically Atari is Star Castle, which I had the opportunity of getting and is not in very good shape. I'm aiming to restore the cabinet a little. Some of the molding has come off and someone had treated it pretty badly. Some people restore British sports cars. But I restore game machines. I have a very forgiving wife, because I have all these things and it's like whenever we move, it's like having 10 refrigerators at all times that you have to haul around the world, wherever you go. It's a pretty demanding hobby.