A Proper Doom Movie

If another movie were to be made, what will it be like? Will it be action packed, horror or some other genre? Who will portray Doomguy? Will it be based on classic Doom or Doom 16'? Will it feature actual demons, aliens or experiments gone wrong?

Also should it be first person like Hardcore Henry?

If someone was seriously gonna put money into making a Doom movie today, there's little doubt it would be based on Doom '16 (just like the first Doom movie was clearly a Doom 3 tie-in). Product marketing/association would be really reason enough to make it so. Can you imagine making a "Doom" movie that looks NOTHING like the CURRENT "Doom" game on the shelves? More than one CEO and marketing department director doesn't ;-)

And, TBQH, such a movie would be yet another "Space Marines" action flick which wouldn't really warrant a theatrical release: straight-to-video is good enough (and it would've been enough for the first "Doom" movie, too).

OFC, if I could have my way, I'd copy the first "Starship Troopers" visual style and adapt it to the first Doom's story, trying even to stay faithful to the game's palette. If anything, because the "Aliens" look has been done to death, and forever ruined by the first "Doom" movie.

Let's consider for a moment the movies that at the time of Doom's release that were a clear influence: Aliens, The Thing, Total Recall, Evil Dead, Hellraiser. All very different movies, all linked by body horror and otherworldly monsters. Post-Doom, we have films like Starship Troopers and Event Horizon. Again, these movies are all linked by the focus on body horror and horrific, monstrous entities. All thee films are over-the-top while retaining a certain seriousness. All of them elicit horror while pouring on the gore. I think a new Doom film would be wise to see these common theads, and incorporate them into a script that favors everything we love about Doom. One thing the film was missing were genuinely scary moments. I do however appreciate that it at least captured the colors and textures of the games in a number of scenes.

It's also important to note that those films all had likable, memorable characters and this is something else the adaptation lacked. If you don't care about the good guys, how are you supposed to give a shit when they defeat the bad guys?

It'd most probably be on Doom'16.
If I had my way, I'd just make the movie in the First Person perspective. Why? 'Cause I haven't heard of a movie that did that from start to finish and it would at least make the movie unusual if not anything else.

Arnold Schwarzenegger needs to be in the role of Doomguy. That would be enough for an awesome movie that Doom deserves. Though, I kinda liked the 2005 one.

Arnie? Nah.

I think Karl Urban should be the Doomguy :P

But if there was a new Doom movie, it would most likely be based on Doom '16. Would they even make the Doomslayer suit for the movie? That I would kill for to get my hands on.

IMO, the only pre-Doom movie which somehow managed to remind me of Doom's actual gameplay (!) in some scenes was this little-known gem:

It also has an emphasis on demonic/satanic possession and Hell, which the actual Doom movie lacked.

Zulk-RS said:

It'd most probably be on Doom'16.
If I had my way, I'd just make the movie in the First Person perspective. Why? 'Cause I haven't heard of a movie that did that from start to finish and it would at least make the movie unusual if not anything else.

HARDCORE HENRY (2015) did just that. And so did FPS: First Person Shooter (2014). Both shitty films, I might add.

Not gonna mention Cloverfield?

/but what about something in the ilk of Event Horizon, but more action?

Evil Dead 2 meets Commando: IN SPACE!

To be honest.... i don't think that a doom movie could ever work.
I can picture a short film about doom guy surviving in a lost uac base (not so different to the clayanimation short made for the new doom ). But a full feature lenght movie? I just can't see it working.

Royal_Sir said:

/but what about something in the ilk of Event Horizon, but more action?

My friend actually described that what the Doom Movie should have been. Or at least in the sense that there's some kind of base (Phobos/Ship) that was swallowed by Hell and it all started with teleporter experiments gone wrong.

I thought it would be a cool idea to open the movie with Karl Urban in a room about to be questioned about the events on Mars. When a person (maybe more?) comes in and asks what happened we see him just he look up. Most of the movie would be a flashback of the horrors he faced on Mars except this time we see a proper Doom movie. I would not be surprised if something like that happened however I am not the biggest fan of opening the movie with a scene like that.

Doom should have been made in the 90's with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

CacoDoomer said:

I thought it would be a cool idea to open the movie with Karl Urban in a room about to be questioned about the events on Mars. When a person (maybe more?) comes in and asks what happened we see him just he look up. Most of the movie would be a flashback of the horrors he faced on Mars except this time we see a proper Doom movie. I would not be surprised if something like that happened however I am not the biggest fan of opening the movie with a scene like that.

Call of Dooty 2: Green Ops?

I think it would of been cool if they made the movie back in the 90s since it would of fit in more with the era of kickass action movies. Doomguy could of been played by action icons like Arnold Schwarznegger, sylvester stallone, Bruce willis or hell maybe even kurt russel. If anyone is looking to do a remake i hope they base it on classic DooM and stick with the classic DooM storyline, They could possibly even add a VCR effect to the film to give it a retro feel. I know alot of people may feel like you cant bring back the effect of a retro movie and thats partially true but although crude the youtube production Kung Fury certainly had a semi retro feel and they could make it similiar to the great effects used in Kung Fury.

If I had my way with a new Doom movie (and thank God I don't because it might just pander to the fans) I would cast ole Sarge, Dwayne Johnson, as the Doomguy. Start off he's in and out of consciousness, sees flashes of what to us might look like Hell and demons. Wakes up later, remembering everything but death, and then proceeds to kill demons for the rest of the movie. Somewhere near the end it will be revealed (not to his character, though) that he actually died and went to Hell; his version of Hell being every Doom iWad/pWad. Never remembering deaths; just constantly fighting in vain as Hell fails to play fair, kills his pet rabbit, and destroys the Earth. None of which happens in "the real world" because he's really just in Hell.

Maes said:

IMO, the only pre-Doom movie which somehow managed to remind me of Doom's actual gameplay (!) in some scenes was this little-known gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0YvN6RPS6k

I need to watch this. Thanks for sharing.

Zulk-RS said:

If I had my way, I'd just make the movie in the First Person perspective. Why? 'Cause I haven't heard of a movie that did that from start to finish and it would at least make the movie unusual if not anything else.

Doom'16 pretty much is a playable movie in the First Person perspective. A full-length movie with that perspective would just make you want to quit watching and go play the game instead.

I have no faith in a Hollywood adaptation, but in a hypothetical world where it could somehow be good, I'd be interested in a film that's based on Doom'16 (as its characters and plot are the most movie-friendly), treats the Doom Marine a bit like Jason Vorhees, as in him not speaking, never showing his face and his character being defined by his actions and his body language, and him simply being a super-powered killing machine.
There would be a handful of speaking characters inspired by the NPCs in Doom'16, but the movie deliberately keeps the cast tiny.

And then, of course, these considerations:

Let's consider for a moment the movies that at the time of Doom's release that were a clear influence: Aliens, The Thing, Total Recall, Evil Dead, Hellraiser. All very different movies, all linked by body horror and otherworldly monsters. Post-Doom, we have films like Starship Troopers and Event Horizon. Again, these movies are all linked by the focus on body horror and horrific, monstrous entities. All thee films are over-the-top while retaining a certain seriousness. All of them elicit horror while pouring on the gore. I think a new Doom film would be wise to see these common theads, and incorporate them into a script that favors everything we love about Doom.

Rather than Hollywood adapting it, a CG film made by fans, who are professional 3d animators, would be ideal.
Kinda like the Doom equivalent of this awesome Warhammer 40k fanfilm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZc6cr6G2E4

Dunno if Doom is big enough for something like that to happen though...

I kind of feel that we're never going to get another Doom movie. It saddens me, but at the same time maybe it's for the better.

RUSH said:

I need to watch this. Thanks for sharing.

+1, this looks really cool.

i think that we should see some points before to choose how to make the movie.
For example, the first thing to consider is the kind of movie, if it would be of terror, or action, or both (for example).
The second thing to consider is the extensión of the movie. A really good movie of doom needs a second part at least and it cant have less that 2 hours for movie.
If someone its gonna make a movie of the 90´s doom, it would need some drama and maximize the history.
And my last point is that considering this its gonna be more easy make a movie about doom 2016.
This is for the momento.

I don't think the movie should be longer than 2 hours, something like that will just drag on & on. A second part of the film is also just unnecessary as Doom just doesn't provide enough lore, unless the filmmakers decide to deviate a little from the source material.

I personally want the movie to be similar to the Evil Dead reboot, where the previous protagonist is not reused, instead that role is taken by an original character. Something like a plain UAC worker as the protagonist instead of Doomguy, though Doom guy should be a cameo or he only makes an appearance near the end.

I've been working on a Doom animation collaboration "The Phobos Anomaly" for the last year, if anyone wants to test view the latest work let me know. I've been trying to follow the Doom script from the original game. So there is hell in this, its like event horizon in some ways, atmosphere wise.
So far me and my buddy are designing the script. I've already completed a ton of the scenes/animations for viewing though. after reading everything I'm sure some of you would enjoy it, though there's still plenty left to implement.
And ofcourse its not the latest CGI quality effects, but a throwback style using Quake 2 era effects/MD2's and even some Doom 3 stuff =)

Some more screens-





"if anyone got to see the older alpha footage this has way more content and fixes, it is still however a work in progress and I'm open to implement new ideas!

For me, a hypothetical Doom movie should take inspiration from Aliens, Evil Dead, Event Horizon and Total Recall. Feature mostly practical effects with a synthesizer score similar to that of a John Carpenter movie. Have the movie open up with the marine being discovered on an escape ship orbiting Mars and have him relay the horrors that the UAC inadvertently released when they opened a rift into hell itself, and the chaos that ensues. And perhaps the Doomguys ultimate mission was to do everything in his power to close the gateway to hell. I'm sure if you get good writers, a good director and actors, a good horror movie can be made. And besides, I want to see the Arch-vile on screen. Plus the vile always did remind me of the movie monster Pumpkinhead.

^ love Pumpkinhead! Random recommendation if you haven't seen it, the Lance Henriksen episode of Tales From The Crypt, Cutting Cards. It's on youtube, so good.

I'd say this movie needs Jason Statham. Proper Doom, guvnuh! But yes, a Doom movie done proper would be epic and excellent. I really like Hardcore Henry, but I would prefer a traditionally shot Doom movie. There's actually also a first person episode of Tales From The Crypt called "You, Murderer" which is very good, funnily enough.