Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. announced today that its action shooter game Contra will be made into a live-action movie and Contra TV show. Ever since its debut as an action-packed arcade game in 1987, the world famous Contra series has continued to deliver button-mashing fun across multiple platforms such as home systems and mobile devices. The latest game in the popular series is the mobile game, Contra: Return which was released in China to critical acclaim. Here's what a Konami rep had to say in a statement.

"At Konami, we not only use our IP to develop games, but we are also working to bring various forms of entertainment to people all over the world. For this project, we will be headquartered in Beijing, China, and partnered with Starlight Film, among others, to produce the films."

Further details about the production will be announced at a later date. Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. strives to provide new forms of entertainment and enjoyment to a worldwide audience by effectively utilizing its content in multifaceted ways. Starlight Film is a video production company founded in 2005. Its main business is planning and producing films, investing in films, artist management, as well as distribution and promotion. In addition, WeFmedia, Hanwin Film will also be helping with production, and while it isn't clear who is directing this video game adaptation, it may have been revealed earlier this year who is writing it.

There were reports in April that a script for a Contra movie, submitted by Beijing Starlit Movie and TV Culture, was approved by China's film bureau. That report also revealed that Wei Nan is said to be the screenwriter behind this Contra movie, but he isn't mentioned in the Konami press release. It's possible that "Beijing Starlit Movie and TV Culture" could in fact be the same company as Starlight Film, since Konami revealed this project was going to be based in Beijing. The April report from China Film Insider revealed that the project is said to put a new Chinese spin on the story, although it will still center on the same commandos from the original game, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean. Here's the description of the story below.

"In 1988, a huge meteorite lands on an uninhabited island in the South China Sea. Chen Qiang and Li Zhiyong investigate but come up empty handed. 29 years later, Chen sends commandos Bill and Lance into a combat mission there to neutralize the villainous Red Falcon Organization, but end up facing a different enemy altogether."

The original Contra coin-operated arcade game debuted in February 1987, with the incredibly popular Contra Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version being released in 1988. The video game's story is set in the year 2633, when the evil Red Falcon Organization have set a base on the Galuga archipelago near New Zealand in a plot to conquer the world. Two commandos, Pfc. Bill Rizer and Pfc. Lance Bean of the Contra unit, soldiers specializing in guerrilla warfare, are sent to the island to destroy the enemy forces and uncover the true nature of the alien entity controlling them. It remains to be seen how faithful the movie will be to this underlying story, but since the project is being developed by the company that created the game, it seems likely.

The original Contra video game spawned Super Contra arcade sequel, plus a few games strictly made for home console markets like the Super Nintendo game Contra III: The Alien Wars, which is one of the games available on the SNES Classic, and Contra: Hard Corps for the Sega Genesis. It seems that video game adaptations are on the rise, with Warcraft becoming the biggest video game movie} at the worldwide box office last year. Whether or not Konami can capitalize on this momentum remains to be see. Take a look at a brief teaser for the upcoming Contra movie that surfaced back in May, although it still isn't clear if this is official or not.