Original ‘Final Fantasy VII’ Director Says He’d “Love To See” Classic RPG Given The Hollywood Treatment “Like A Cinematic Or Some Kind Of Visual Piece”
While many fans may be wary towards the idea given the current state of the city’s filmmaking industry, original Final Fantasy VII director Yoshinori Kitase says he’d “love to see” the classic game given some sort of Hollywood screen treatment.
Currently serving as the overall Final Fantasy brand manager, Kitase has enjoyed a long career with Square Enix (and Square before its merger), having not only directed Final Fantasy VII, but also Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy X, as well as serving as a producer on the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and the first three Kingdom Hearts games (1, Chain of Memories, and 2).
To this end, the storied Japanese dev offered his thoughts about a potential Hollywood take on Cloud and crew’s fight to save the Planet (or Gaia as newer games have taken to calling it) during a recent interview with noted video game-centric content creator Danny Peña.
At one point during their time together, Peña shared his wish “to see in the future, maybe, a movie or a series similar to what you guys released ago about Final Fantasy VII” – a reference to the 2007’s Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children – and asked Kitase if there was anything “like that” he “would like to see in the future”.
In turn, Kitase, speaking through a translator, asserted, “We don’t have anything officially planned, and so this is just strictly my personal sort of wish, but yeah, I’ve heard about various Hollywood directors and actors playing Final Fantasy 7, and many creators also respect the title.”
“I’ve been hearing things about creators out there who are very interested in the property, who love the Final Fantasy VII universe,” he added, “And so yeah, personally I’d love to see something that comes out of these creators, in terms of like a cinematic or some kind of visual piece.”
“But yeah, nothing planned officially,” he clarified in conclusion to his answer. “No sort of talks have been made along those lines.”
Given the sheer popularity of the original Final Fantasy VII, it comes as very little surprise that more and more contemporary film and TV talent have admitted to having an affinity for the iconic PlayStation 1 title.
Unfortunately, Kitase did not name any specific actors or directors whose Final Fantasy VII fandom he was aware of.
However, at least two actors have made their love of the game exceptionally public: Matthew Lewis, perhaps best known for portraying Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film series, who has regularly tweeted about his enjoyment of the remake series, and The Batman lead Robert Pattinson, who has very strong opinions on the age old ‘Aerith vs Tifa’ waifu debate.
Let’s just hope that, if such a film ever does happen, it’s at least more coherent than Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
Meanwhile, the long-awaited PC release of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is currently on track to bring the fight to Shinra on January 23rd.
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