Heavenly Sword, an animated film based on the 2007 Sony PlayStation 3 video game, debuts direct on Blu-ray/DVD and digital media platforms on Sept. 2.
The movie is a collaboration between Sony’s game division, which created high-resolution animated assets for its game, and Blockade Entertainment. Blockade took those assets and created an independent animated film with them.
The movie’s voice actors include Anna Torv, Alfred Molina, and Thomas Jane. Blockade describes the film as a “dramatic tale of revenge,” featuring Nariko (played by Torv), who has flaring red hair and titular blade with incredible powers. As its guardian, Nariko must fend off megalomaniacal ruler King Bohan (Molina) and his army.
Movies based on games have a mixed record, with plenty of bombs like Super Mario Bros. and Doom and successes like Tomb Raider, Hitman, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Resident Evil. The film will debut on the Sony PlayStation Network as well as disc.
Developer Ninja Theory and actor Andy Serkis (who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films) provided an extensive library of material to use in the film. The movie got a good reception at the Cannes Film Festival, and Blockade parlayed that into a bigger budget and wider distribution.
