They have lost all creativity. We keep saying that, but every time we think they can’t go any lower Hollywood surprises us. Did you know they are making movies based on board games like Candyland and Battleship? I’m sure I must have heard about it before and forgot- it was part of the article on the latest movie based on a game. A video game. Yes, we know how those go- from Super Mario Brothers to Street Fighter they tend to be flops, but at least the games they are based on have some sort of plot even if the movies twist it beyond recognition. How is this for a movie though- Asteroids. That’s right- they are now making a movie based on the 30-year-old arcade hit (video below if you aren’t familiar with the game, such as you’ve lived under a rock or are under 15 or so years of age 😉 ). But that’s not all. We can easily imagine a studio just picking this up and figuring it’s worth a try, but how about four studios? That’s right- not one, not two, but four studios had a bidding war over this movie. I have to say, I hope that’s a good sign but I have my doubts. Click to read the story at the Hollywood Reporter, or just read below- it’s certainly short enough to post here:
‘Asteroids’ lands at Universal
Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing game adaptation
July 2, 2009, 02:12 AM ET
Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game “Asteroids.” Matthew Lopez will write the script for the feature adaptation, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.In “Asteroids,” initially released as an arcade game in 1979, a player controlled a triangular space ship in an asteroid field. The object was to shoot and destroy the hulking masses of rock and the occasional flying saucer while avoiding smashing into both.
As opposed to today’s games, there is no story line or fancy world-building mythology, so the studio would be creating a plot from scratch. Universal, however, is used to that development process, as it’s in the middle of doing just that for several of the Hasbro board game properties it is translating to the big screen, such as “Battleship” and “Candyland.”
Senior vp of production Jeff Kirschenbaum will oversee the project for Universal.
Di Bonaventura’s next outing is “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” which Paramount is set to open Aug. 7.
Lopez came out of Disney’s writing program and worked on that studio’s recent movies “Bedtime Stories” and “Race to Witch Mountain.” He also wrote the most recent draft of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” currently in production with Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel starring.
Lopez and Atari are repped by ICM.
Interesting… the same production team behind the Transformers movies. Good if you like loud noises and things that go BOOM (ok… I saw both Transformers movies and like them for what they are, good summer popcorn blockbusters)! Another Armageddon (movie)?
The plot is anyone’s guess. Hopefully it will be at least somewhat original.
The constant cashing in on toys of our generation’s youth continues, and I haven’t been too sold on anything yet.