DreamWorks has bought The Defenders, a family adventure project conceived by “Heroes” actor Masi Oka to be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. D.J. Caruso is in negotiations to direct, and Gary Whitta is on board to write the script.
The story centers on a group of mostly teenagers from around the world who are involved in a multiplayer video game, each unaware of who they really are behind the cover of their consoles and avatars. They are forced to come together for a real adventure, becoming inadvertent heroes in the process.
Oka, who will executive produce, came up with idea while playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games, in that world’s parlance.
“You can be whoever you want to be,” he said. “The question came to me: What if you had to live up to the person you created in the virtual world?”
