February 28, 2005 - Screenwriter Michel Werb (Face/Off) recently told Screenwriting Magazine (we heard via Dark Horizons) about his scripting plans for the Tekken movie.  "You can't go too far off the map when you're working with a film that's source material is a computer game," Werb says.

Werb reveals that Brian J. White (Mr. 3000, The Shield) is up for a role in the film. He says, "The idea here is to make a realistic movie out of an unrealistic stencil, you get guys like White, and whoever else, and suddenly you've got people that look like they belong in the world... What we hope to do with Tekken is to entertain both those who have played the game, and those that haven't – there's got to be more than effects and skirmishes on screen to hold an audience."

White, a former professional football player, previously worked with Tekken director Charles Stone III (Drumline, Paid in Full) on the Bernic Mac comedy Mr. 3000.  Stone says he's going for an Enter the Dragon vibe on the film.  "I want the audience to get to know the characters, so when they have to battle each other it will be more dramatic," he says.

Incidentally, Werb also revealed that he's written a scriptment for a new Double Dragon movie. "It's actually been done once before, but it's such a classic, it deserves to be done better," he says. You can expect to hear more from us on that project in the near future.

Werb even hints at the possibility of another Face/Off film, but one with female characters in the lead roles having no connection with the original other than the face-swapping plot device. Naturally, Werb says he'd like to see Angelina Jolie star.

Tekken, based on Namco's lucrative game franchise, is budgeted at around $60 million and should start production later this year.