According to a recent tweet from Letters from the Fire lead vocalist Nina Bergman, she has recently been cast in a new Doom movie with Universal Pictures. A brief glimpse at the singers Twitter page seems to suggest a director and script have already been allocated, although Universal Pictures has yet to either confirm or deny this news. Developed by id Software Doom was first released in 1993. Rebooted in 2004 with Doom 3, and again with 2016's Doom, the video game franchise has been successful in maintaining its unique appeal while continuing to be at the forefront of the technical evolution of the video game industry. Sadly 2005's big screen adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike is now considered a commercial and critical failure, and one of the worst movies based on a video game.
While there are many reasons 2005's Doom movie bombed, one key reason is that it completely ignored one of the key narratives present within the video games. Those that have played any of the Doom games know will that the basic plot centers around a UAC (Union Aerospace Corporation) research station on Mars opening a gateway to Hell. 2004's Doom 3 did also include the side narrative that ancient Martians may have traveled to Earth and were possible precursors to the human race, of which the 2005 movies plot focused heavily on, but in the movie there was no mention of anything Hell related, despite the appearance of enemies from the video game, such as the Imp, Pinky (picture below) and the Hell Knight.
Although I am sure that Universal Pictures is confident in whoever they have chosen to write and/or direct this new movie, considering the sub-par performance of the 2005 movie, and the lack of any official confirmation, it is highly likely that this new movie will just be a low-cost attempt by Universal Pictures to retain the production rights to the property. As such, I feel it prudent to state that, as both a fan of the games and of science fiction horror movies, if rebooted a big screen adaptation of Doom could, with the right production team, be a worthy addition to the sci-fi horror sub-genre, a sub-genre that despite its growing popularity has, in the past two decades, yet to produce anything that can be considered both a critical and commercial success.
On the surface, one could describe Doom to sci-fi horror movie enthusiasts as a cross between James Cameron's 1986 Aliens and Paul W. S. Anderson's 1997 Event Horizon. Considering the latter director has also written and directed 2003's Aliens vs Predator (pictured above), one would presume a recommendation to write/direct a big screen adaptation of Doom, but considering Anderson's catalog of poorly received movies I don't think that would be so wise. A shame considering that Event Horizon, now having amassed a cult following is considered Andersons greatest movie.
One would imagine the narrative of a fresh big screen adaptation of Doom would follow in a similar vein to Aliens, with demonic Imps and such featuring in the Xenomorphs place. With the Marines being shown as the heroes, a UAC representative could accompany them to Mars, acting as the low-moral compass of the cast, whose corporate greed risks the safety of the Marines, while helping drive the narrative forward through uncovering the work that had been carried out by the UAC scientists, namely the ancient Martians, teleportation technology, and Hell itself.
Where a big screen reboot of Doom could possibly step above the shoulders of the lackluster 2005 movie, and even the video game source material, is through social and political commentary. With The UAC having discovered Hell itself, one must believe that by extension Heaven could be reached by similar means and that if Heaven and Hell actually exist then so too must God, and so too must an afterlife. If such undeniable knowledge was revealed publicly the social and political effects would be unprecedented. Would you commit suicide if you knew there was an afterlife? Will we find our lost loved ones watching us from Heaven, or suffering in Hell? If Heaven exists which religions God rules over it if any? The fallout to such questions could be globally and potentially catastrophic.
Such deep philosophical insight may seem out of place in what should essentially be a demonic take on Cameron's' Aliens, but imagine after a rollercoaster ride of action, horror, and intrigue, the truth about the UAC's work on Mars was shown being unveiled to everyone back on Earth, followed by depictions of the possible fallout - riots, religious wars, unprecedented peace, mass suicides, religious institutions in flames.
