Corona | Coming Attractions

Heroes star Masi Oka has sold an idea for a sci-fi adventure to DreamWorks and it already has attracted some major geek friendly talent to help make it a reality. The actor who plays Hiro in NBC's superhero series came up with The Defenders which sounds like a fusion of The Goonies and World of Warcraft.

Oka's idea revolves around a group of MMO (massive multiplayer online) gamers who band together in real life when some kind of threat arises. The central idea which the story revolves around is this: what if the real person behind their video game avatar had to be just as brave and heroic in the real world?

Oka knew Star Trek and Transformers screenwriters Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman from going to the same parties and social events in Hollywood, so he took his idea and pitched it to them (since the writers have a producing deal with DreamWorks.) Kurtzman and Orci, fans of The Goonies and those sort of Amblin movies from the '80s, dug it but also asked the actor to work with established screenwriter Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) to hone the story. Whitta, the former editor of PC Gamer, knows the world of gaming intimately and immediately was attracted to the idea. He agreed to work with Oki on the screenplay. "Masi and Gary have put in countless hours in this world and have found a way to make it work for those that don't play the game, but also for the millions that do," Orci commented to The Hollywood Reporter about this story.

Meanwhile Orci and Kurtzman met with director D.J. Caruso (Eagle Eye, Disturbia) and told him about The Defenders. Caruso dug the idea too, so much that he agreed to attach his name as director to the baby movie.

Ironically, DreamWorks now wants to take things to the next level and actually make a video game based on the movie.

Whether we'll get to see The Defenders movie in a couple of years remains to be seen. Caruso could go on to make Jack the Giant Killer as his next movie and there isn't a finished screenplay yet, plus Oka still has Heroes as his day job. Still, he's keeping the door open for coming up with and selling more cool projects. "I love Heroes, don't get me wrong, but there's something about creating something from scratch that you don't get from being in front of the camera," he told the trade.