A report from Variety suggests that former Marvel movie man, Avi Arad, has optioned the movie rights to Mass Effect from Electronic Arts, parent company of the game's developer, BioWare.

The publication claims that "numerous sources" have confirmed the news. There's no word from either EA or Arad at the time of press, but such a move would make sense.

For starters, the broad sci-fi sweep of Mass Effect is the stuff of great movies (for people who like sweeping sci-fi movies). Similarly, EA has been making a point of pushing its properties into Hollywood, having signed up with a talent agency recently.

For Arad's part, he has a history with sci-fi properties thanks to his time with Marvel, having produced the likes of the X-Men, Spider-Man and Iron Man films. Since leaving Marvel to set up his own production company, he's also been tied to an upcoming film based on Capcom's Lost Planet. Admittedly he also worked on Ghost Rider and the Bratz movie, but we're trying not to hold that against him.

For more on Mass Effect, see SPOnG's dedicated game page.

^{Source: Variety}