In February, Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Yair Landau obliquely mentioned to GameSpot that along with a Metal Gear Solid silver-screen adaptation in production under the guidance of famed game designer Hideo Kojima, the studio was "working with one of my favorite producers right now on an idea for an EverQuest movie." Unwilling to finger the mystery producer, Landau said, "I'll let him disclose that."

　　The announcement didn't play out exactly as Landau anticipated, but GameSpot has confirmed today that former Marvel Studios chief Avi Arad would be producing the long-speculated EverQuest film. Arad, who resigned his positions as CEO and chairman at Marvel last year to form his own production company, is most recently responsible for the big-screen adaptation of Bratz: The Movie.

　　Joining Arad on the project, which first blipped onto the radar during EQ's heyday in 2000, will be 300 scribe Michael Gordon. The Sony Pictures rep was unwilling to comment on plot details or when the theatrical release would take flight.

　　Despite being a massively multiplayer online game often defined by its users, EverQuest boasts a substantial tome of lore surrounding the world of Norrath and its outlying, otherworldly planes. Now in its eighth year, the original EQ has received 13 expansion packs, with its 14th, EverQuest: Secrets of Faydwer, due in November. The game also spawned a semi-sequel, EverQuest 2, in 2004.