Did Universal just announce the Mass Effect movie's release date?

Universal announced a 2016 release for a "secret" movie today, and it's just possible it might be the long-awaited Mass Effect movie.

The Hollywood Reporter reports Universal today announced a "secret" film for release on November 4, 2016.

According to the report, the "Untitled 2016 Event Project" is new and not a sequel or remake, but "may be based on underlying intellectual property".

It could be anything, obviously, but the project - whatever it is - is being co-financed by Legendary Pictures, which makes things more interesting. Legendary is behind the upcoming, Duncan Jones-directed Warcraft movie, and has the rights to Mass Effect.

The Mass Effect movie was first announced in May 2010 and was silent until Comic Con 2011, where we learned it would star BroShep.

That was all we knew until late 2012 when the script suddenly changed hands, and apart from a blip in March 2013, when Mass Effect creative Casey Hudson promised it would be "really special", we haven't heard a blessed thing.

Legendary co-founder and producer Thomas Tull recently told IGN Legendary is being very careful with the property, as it's difficult to adapt well - so that may explain the radio silence.

Warcraft is also expected in 2016, and the new Star Wars episode is coming at the end of 2015, which may whet moviegoers' appetite for sci-fi films.