Monster Hunter Featurette Compares Movie's Monsters To Game's

The upcoming Monster Hunter movie has drawn some worried looks from fans for not appearing to have much in common with its source material, but in a new featurette, director Paul W.S. Anderson sat down with the games' creators to show them how the film is striving for accuracy. This includes pulling a few monsters directly out of the games.

Game director Kaname Fujioka and producer Ryozo Tsujimoto were both involved in the process, and Anderson said the Diablos monster was one of the first they started dialing in. As you can see in the comparison shots, the design is very similar to the one in Monster Hunter World, with the same tusks on either side of the mouth and enormous teeth in the middle. The horns have been somewhat straightened out, but it's a relatively minor difference.

The Rathalos was given a similar treatment, and it looks like it will serve as one of the biggest enemies Milla Jovovich's character faces in the movie. Despite an early teaser focusing heavily on machine guns, the movie will feature traditional Monster Hunter weapons, too. Jovovich will be using dual blades to match what she uses when she plays the game, and Tony Jaa's character uses an enormous sword and a bow.

The husband-and-wife team of Anderson and Jovovich have been collaborating for nearly two decades, having worked together on the live-action Resident Evil films, as well. That series "concluded" but has since been rebooted, with a new cast taking over for Jovovich and company. There are also live-action and animated series in the works.

Monster Hunter is currently planned to release in theaters this December. The game franchise isn't slowing down, either, with both Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Stories 2 coming to Nintendo Switch in 2021.