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Did you ever think there would be a Mechwarrior Movie? If the folks over at MechWarriorMovie.com get their way it could become a reality. You can hardly wait? Get on over there and sign the petition.

As posted by Carl at mechwarriormovie.com

Dear fellow Mechwarrior fans,

In case you haven't heard, a company under contract by Paramount Studios, Electric Entertainment, has leased the rights to the Battletech universe for the production of a feature film. There was an obscure press release that delivered this news to us back in 2003:

Devlin to Lead Mechwarrior to the Big Screen (Feb. 28, 2003)

Apparently, the project currently suffers from what is called "development hell," a Hollywoodese term meaning "ain't goin' nowhere for now." It is in mothballs because the company has not yet been able to raise enough money from the studio.
As an independent producer, I've experienced that Hollywood would like to "see it on celluloid" before they fork over the 50-70 million dollars it will take to strike this film. In other words, the film needs to be completed before they will finance it. Yes, it's backwards and a catch-22.
But a precedent has been set with Eight Legged Freaks and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, where short films have attracted the capital for a feature-length film. I believe that if we can make something that is exciting, of professional quality, accurate to the Battletech universe, and true to the human condition in wartime, we may be able to attract that kind of attention from Paramount.
Therefore, I'm putting together a short film (8-10 minutes long), totally on spec (which is legal because technically, it is a fan film, and we are making no money on it) to encourage the studios to realize what an awesome film the Mechwarrior universe could yield.
The bottom line? If we can make something really sizzling to present to the studios, we might be able to actually get the movie to the big screen!
We need your help! Sign the petition above and voice your opinion about getting the Mechwarrior film into theaters. Our goal is to achieve 100,000 votes. That's only 0.4% of the estimated 25 million people who have read the novels or played the games since 1984.
If this is a success, the result is not hard to imagine. Put yourself into the shoes of a money-focused Hollywood bigwig for a moment, and suppose someone pranced into your office with a massively cool short film and a 500-page printout of a 100,000-vote petition! Would it be a hard sell for you to greenlight the film? Probably not.
Help make this dream a reality. Cast your vote, and I'll see you at the theater.
Best regards,
Carl Obremski
Producer
Burnt Scroll Productions

The rest of the article and more info can be found here.

[Nohbody]

While the notion of an MW movie appeals on general principle, I think the authors of this petition are smoking whacky tobaccy if they think 100K signatures in an online petition (the success rate of online petitions to date being zero, for all practical purposes) will mean anything to studio execs. I mean, 100K people buying hypothetical movie tickets wouldn't even recoup the catering costs on the production set, and even going at a 1:10 ratio of voiced opinions to those who quietly agree, is hardly a huge appeal to profit for movie studio executives.

As for the "short film for free wouldn't infringe", doesn't sound like they have anyone giving them legal competent advice, either.

In short, color me skeptical as hell.

[RGHawk2000]

Hi, Im a mechwarrior fan and I hope this movie could make it to the big screen. ABout Nohbody reply on the short movie I has to say that the independant SW movie going around through the internet would it be suited long time ago if that was illegal. That SW movie cost around 20k US$ with 200 people participating in their production and I havent heard Lucas said: hey, pay me back my rights for it!

So, as long they dont get money by selling the film in any way they are not infringing any law. They could get even donations for their work but not for the short film itself. About the 100k, well, so far there are 1921 signatures. 100k itself may do nothing as it happen to enterprise show when it was cancel. But here, I least they have the studio interest before and you never know. Didnt some one made Doom already, even Starship Troopers, so if some one did that why not a mechwarrior movie

RG...out