World of Warcraft legend Mats "Ibelin" Steen's life becomes a movie

In 1993, Mats Steen's parents received the news that their three-year-old son would be in a wheelchair within four years. It was fateful and there was nothing anyone could do to change this tragic fact. The Norwegian boy had been diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare disease that causes muscle wasting. As a result, his muscles would never develop normally and would eventually be completely destroyed. It was a prognosis as bleak as it was inevitable, where not only would a normal life be impossible, but neither would a long one, rarely longer than 20 years according to the statistics.

Mats lived to the age of 25 and during his lifetime he influenced many people around him. Especially online, where he was known as Ibelin in World of Warcraft. When his body could take no more, people from all over the world came to show their deepest condolences and stories of how he had inspired and touched the community quickly began to spread, much to the surprise of his parents. They thought he had chosen an isolated existence because of his disability, alone with only his thoughts for company, but in fact he had many friends. A community, initially unaware of his situation, gradually began to share his daily life, in a personal blog where he wrote about his life and the challenges he faced as a wheelchair user. At the funeral, his father said that in the last ten years of his life, Mats played between 15 and 20,000 hours, which is more than a full-time job for over ten years.

This is, of course, a life story worth telling, and now Collider reports that Mats Steen's 25-year life is indeed also becoming a movie. Oscar-winning studio Vendôme Pictures (CODA) has announced the drama, which will be directed by Morten Tyldum, best known internationally for The Imitation Game and nationally with films like The Headhunters, but Tyldum is also behind the excellent miniseries Defending Jacob. Here's what he has to say about the honourable assignment:

"Ever since hearing about Mats and meeting his family, this is a story I felt needed to be shared with the world. Making this story into a film with such an extraordinarily talented writer as Kyle Killen (Halo), and producing together with the exceptional Philippe Rousselet (CODA) at Vendôme and my long time producing partner, Guri Neby (Imitation Game), feels like a dream."

No production date has yet been announced but the film will reportedly be shot in the US.