It's no secret that making a Metal Gear Solid game takes quite a bit of time. Hideo Kojima and the team at Konami have been at work on Metal Gear Solid 5 for years and we're still almost six months away from the release date. Apparently, the same kind of delays are also involved when trying to bring the surreal espionage franchise to the big screen.

A Metal Gear Solid movie has been in the works at Sony Pictures since 2007. The project was off again, on again for a few years, but has gotten back on track since last year when Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kings of Summer) signed on to direct. Development inched another step closer to production this week when Jay Basu was signed as its screenwriter.

Deadline reports that Basu is officially onboard the Sony Metal Gear project, which will be produced by Avi Arad. Basu doesn't have a very lengthy film resume at this point, but he did co-write Monsters: Dark Continent, which will be released in the U.S. this summer. The screenwriter has also been enlisted to work on the upcoming Universal monsters' shared universe.

While future plans for Konami seem uncertain after the news of Kojima's impending departure, at least we know that the Metal Gear film project is finally moving in the right direction. As fans of the film industry already know, this isn't cause to celebrate quite yet. Until production is officially started, there's no saying how long it will be before the movie reaches theaters. As you might expect, no announcements about cast members have been released at this point.

Still, the possibility of video game movies is higher than it ever has been, with films like Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, and others leading the pack. There's no denying that plenty of films have tried and failed to successfully adapt video storylines, but Hollywood appears to be more receptive to getting those films done right with the right people. The Last of Us movie, for example, brought on the game's director to help write the script.

Metal Gear Solid 5 is slated for release on September 1, so fans will have to get their Snake fix from that game until Sony is ready to reveal its first teaser for the upcoming film.

How long do you think it will take before the Metal Gear movie sees the light of day? Who would you like to see play Snake? Let us know in the comments.

The Metal Gear Solid film has no estimated release window at this time.

Source: Deadline