The true story behind the No More Heroes movie

If you're playing No More Heroes 3 as we speak, you'll probably have noticed some of the many references and parodies it includes, not only to other video games, but also to the world of TV and cinema. X-Files, The Matrix, Mad Max, Miike... But what about No More Heroes itself becoming a movie? Knowing the love of Goichi Suda for celluloid, and his work with both movie-like cutscenes and anime, we wanted to ask him about the prospects of Travis Touchdown becoming a non-playable hero on either the big or the small screen, which there's been rumours about in the past.

"We have actually had several serious offers, and have been in talks before, about creating a movie version of No More Heroes", Suda51 stars recalling in the video below. "Without getting into too much detail, at one point, it went so far as to basically we already had an idea for who we wanted to play the main character [the actor for Travis Touchdown] and it went really far into the pre-production stage but it just ended up really not working out. We've also considered creating an anime version of No More Heroes in the past and, as far as the anime goes, it went so far as to get a pilot show produced. Unfortunately, it just wasn't really up to standard, you could say quality-wise, and we decided to scrap it after all in the end".

Takashi Miike, James Gunn... how a NMH movie should be according to Suda51

"But, obviously, there's been lots of people saying they'd like to see a No More Heroes movie or anime, and I've thought a lot about that over the years", the head of Grasshopper Manufacture continues. "To be honest, at this point, I kind of feel like if we're going to make a movie out of it, we shouldn't do it just because 'okay, we should make a movie and somebody is going to do it, so let's just give it to somebody to have that movie created'. If we're going to make it, I'd want to be able to make the movie with somebody and a team who I personally want to have make a No More Heroes movie. It might be a little bit of a spoiler, so I'm not sure if I can say this or not, but it actually is touched down a tiny bit in No More Heroes 3 itself, but it would be great if Takashi Miike, for example, could make a NMH movie. Personally, it would be awesome if James Gunn could get on board and direct a No More Heroes movie. It really comes down to who will be making the movie, what kind of vision they have and, if possible, more than 'I want to do a live-action version or an anime version', my number one wish for any sort of No More Heroes movie would be that I could have it made by a team I actually want to work with, and somebody whose work I want to see in the No More Heroes series".

Suda51 already worked with James Gunn on Lollipop Chainsaw, which reportedly remains as GhM's best-selling game to date. Will he ever direct the No More Heroes movie? Which actors would you pick for roles such as Travis or Sylvia?