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A Metal Gear Solid movie has been officially announced by series creator Hideo Kojima.

Announced at a Metal Gear anniversary event in Tokyo, the film will be released through Columbia Pictures and produced by Avi Arad, reports Famitsu

Arad, who has previously worked on blockbusters such as X-Men, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man, described Metal Gear as a "phenomenon".

Calling video games the "comic books of today", Arad promised to stay faithful to the themes of the Metal Gear franchise.

A Metal Gear movie tie-in has been planned for a number of years.

In 2010, original producer Mike De Luca revealed that his Metal Gear Solid movie would not be moving forward due to a conflict between the movie's backers and Konami.

Metal Gear celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year. The original game in the series, Metal Gear for the MSX2, was released on July 7, 1987 in Japan.

A total of 31 million Metal Gear games have been sold to date.

The next title in the franchise - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - will be released next year.