J.J. Abrams Confirms Portal Movie Still in Development

In 2013, J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions announced a film based on Valve Corporation‘s Portal franchise, but fans could be forgiven for thinking the movie might have been quietly cancelled. It appears that is not the case, however, as Abrams has confirmed to IGN that the movie is still in development! During a press event for the Super 8 4K Blu-Ray, Abrams said that a script is currently being written at Warner Bros., though no writer was specifically attached. For fans of the games, this is very exciting news, but it seems that the adaptation won’t be releasing anytime in the near future!

“We actually do have a script that’s being written for the Portal movie now at [Warner Bros.]. We’re really excited about the take and the pitch, so it feels like that thing’s finally on the rails,” Abrams told IGN.

The timing could bode well for fans of Portal. The last few years have seen movies based on video games getting a bigger push from Hollywood, and more faithful adaptations. Movies like Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Warner Bros.’ recent Mortal Kombat have offered faithful recreations of their source material. This year’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City also seems to be a much closer adaptation than previous Resident Evil films. Faithfulness and quality don’t always go hand in hand, but it seems that Hollywood is putting much better care into its adaptations than it once did, and that is definitely a good thing.

The Portal games have come to mean a lot to players over the years. Released in 2007, Portal quickly became a critical and commercial success for Valve. Portal won numerous awards, and its storyline quickly endeared the game to fans around the world. The movie will have a lot to live up to, and adapting the game could prove to be a difficult task based on the gameplay. However, GLaDOS, Chell, and the Weighted Companion Cube are all compelling enough that their storyline could work on the big screen. For now, fans will just have to wait and see for themselves!

Do you think Portal will work well as a movie? Are you happy that the game’s film adaptation is moving forward? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!