Mickey Rourke Taking Lead As Rogue Warrior
Mickey Rourke, after winning an Oscar nomination for his work in The Wrestler, has been tapped to take the lead role in the upcoming Bethesda Softworks title, Rogue Warrior.
The title is due to ship in the fourth quarter of 2009 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Games for Windows Live, so there’s plenty of time to wait. Considering it’s from Bethesda, though, you can’t help but expect awesomeness!
Could having Oscar-nominated actors in lead roles bring a bit more credibility to our favorite pasttime? I’d like to think so, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. The more games are taken seriously by Hollywood, the more likely we are to see a bit more respect from the general public toward video games – at least in my opinion, that is.
Now the argument for well established actors vs. new talent in video games is a subject of it’s own, so don’t think that I’m ruling against anyone here, just posing a question.
What do you think? Add a comment with your comments after the official press release below.
Bethesda Softworks Announces Award-Winning Actor
Mickey Rourke to Play Lead Role in Rogue WarriorOscar-Nominated Actor to Provide Voice Work in Game Based
on the Novels by Richard “Demo Dick” Marcinko
April 27, 2009 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, is pleased to announce that actor Mickey Rourke will voice the prominent role of the irreverent, battle-tested Richard “Demo Dick” Marcinko, a real-life Navy SEAL and founder of the elite SEAL Team 6, in Rogue Warrior™.“Mickey Rourke was our first choice to play Marcinko in Rogue Warrior,” said Todd Vaughn, Executive Producer of Rogue Warrior. “He absolutely, one-hundred percent captures Marcinko’s raw and gritty personality.”
Rourke has appeared in numerous well-known films over the years, including “Rumble Fish”, “Nine ½ Weeks” and “Sin City”. Most recently, Rourke has enjoyed critical acclaim for his role as Randy “The Ram” Robinson in “The Wrestler” for which he won a Golden Globe and a Spirit award in the ‘Best Actor in a Leading Role’ category and earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
Rogue Warrior was inspired by Marcinko’s New York Times bestseller of the same name and his subsequent novels based loosely on his own past military experiences. Playing as “Demo Dick” Marcinko, you are sent on a clandestine operation to disrupt a suspected North Korean ballistic missile program. Soon into the mission, you uncover a conspiracy and must covertly enter the USSR to destroy a technology that could change the balance of geopolitical power, leaving a trail of destruction in your wake.
Rogue Warrior is currently under development for the Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows® at Rebellion Studios and is scheduled for release in Q4 2009