Sam Maggs
Staff Writer

Further expanding their empire into Hollywood, Ubisoft has snagged explosions enthusiast and Transformers director Michael Bay to develop a big-screen adaptation of their popular game franchise Ghost Recon. Currently filming Transformers 4, Bay will join forces with Ubisoft Motion Pictures and Warner Bros. to adapt the game for the screen. Bay is also up for consideration as a potential director for the action flick.

Created by Ubisoft and Tom Clancy’s development studio Red Storm Entertainment, the Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon games are tactical shooters that follow a fictional squad of US Army Special Forces soldiers – the titular “Ghosts” – who report to the president himself. The first game, released in 2001, follows the Ghosts on a mission to stop the Russian Democratic Union from conquering various former Soviet republics. Incredibly successful both critically and financially, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon won Game of the Year in 2001 from both IGN and PC Gamer. There have been thirteen expansions and sequels to the original game since 2001, the most recent of which, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, was released in 2012.

Calling Bay’s attachment to the film a “dream come true,” Ubisoft Motion Pictures CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet faces a busy year ahead. Ghost Recon is Ubisoft’s fourth game adaptation project in the works, joining Assassin’s Creed, which starred Michael Fassbender; Splinter Cell, which starred Tom Hardy; and an animated series based on Raving Rabbids. Instead of simply licencing their games to studios, Ubisoft is taking a unique and in-control approach with each of their franchise adaptations, ensuring that the “DNA” of the games remains intact.

If you’re curious about what a potential Ghost Recon film could look like, check out this half-hour Ridley Scott-produced short film aired by G4 in 2012 called Ghost Recon Alpha.

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