At this year's Comic-Con, Legendary Pictures held their first ever film panel to discuss the early development of four big budget, high concept fantasy and sci-fi epics that would be coming out over the next few years. Since Mass Effect was one of them, I made sure to get in line hours early.

BioWare's Casey Hudson shared the stage with screenwriter Mark Protosevich and while they didn't have much to share, what they did share was all promising. The Mass Effect movie would honor the source material and the first film would follow Commander Shepard and the story for the first game. Then came news that it all might not be true...

In September we discovered that Legendary Pictures had posted a Q&A on their official site to address some of the questions they didn't have time to answer on stage. These answers however, contradicted what was said by Protosevich at the panel weeks earlier.

According to Legendary's site, the film would explore an entirely original story, not taken from the games. While it would follow Commander Shepard, we were unsure of the supporting characters. We were confused and fans were rightfully concerned. This is what the site read in contradiction to what they said in person:

Q: Will it just be an adaptation of the first game, second game, or a completely new story?

A: It will be a completely new story

Q: How are you going to address the element of ‘choice’ that the players have in the game?

A: A movie narrative is different than gameplay. There won’t be a choice aspect to this film, just a normal film narrative.

Q: Will it be a trilogy?

A: We are really focused on making this a great movie, so we’ll see where it takes us. We have to get the first one right to know whether there will be more.

Q: Will Seth Green portray Joker (that character he voiced in the game?)

A: No.

Q: Will the movie be focused on Sheppard?

A: Yes.

Q: If the movie is focused on Sheppard, will it be the male Sheppard or the female Sheppard?

A: Male.

Q: Can you give any hints to potential casting?

A: No. Stay tuned.

Q: Will BioWare allow plot / character changes?

A: Yes, we are working closely with BioWare on the development of this project.

Q: Would you consider Daft Punk to do the soundtrack?

A: We love Daft Punk, but it’s too early to say who will produce the soundtrack.

Even Seth Green was sad.

As of a few weeks ago however, the Legendary Pictures site sang a new tune as that exact same August-dated Q&A was drastically altered. It's now in line with what was presented at the Comic-Con panel and with what fans are hoping from the film:

Q: Will it just be an adaptation of the first game, second game, or a completely new story?

A: It will focus on Commander Shepard's journey, centering around the story of the original Mass Effect game.

Q: How are you going to address the element of 'choice' that the players have in the game?

A: The writer is weaving a path through Shepard's decisions that best supports the narrative of the movie and the motivations of its characters.

Q: Will it be a trilogy?

A: We are really focused on making this a great movie, so we'll see where it takes us. We have to get the first one right to know whether there will be more.

Q: Will Seth Green portray Joker, the character he voiced in the game?

A: No casting decisions have been made yet.

Q: Will the movie be focused on Shepard?

A: Yes.

Q: If the movie is focused on Shepard, will it be the male Shepard or the female Shepard?

A: Male.

Q: Can you give any hints to potential casting?

A: No. Stay tuned.

Q: Will BioWare allow plot / character changes?

A: Yes, we are working closely with BioWare on the development of this project.

Q: Would you consider Daft Punk to do the soundtrack?

A: We love Daft Punk, but it's too early to say who will produce the soundtrack.

That's an upgrade if I ever saw one! The story is based on what it should be based on, Commander Shepard's name returns to its correct spelling and Seth Green now has a chance!

This is only major news because Legendary accidentally presented the opposite on their official website. We spoke with them this week to inquire about the film's direction and whether or not it was changing, and what happened with the site. It was a simple mistake that had the incorrect answers up, and boy were they incorrect compared to what it currently reads, but all is now well regardless.

The Mass Effect movie is in fact, based on the first game, and everything Casey Hudson and Mark Protosevich told us remains true.

Mass Effect 3 releases March 6, 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360

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Source: Screen Rant