Attack of The Centipede Can't Be Too Far Off...

We've talked a lot about the latest trends in Hollywood film projects: remakes of favorites from the '80s/early '90s (The Karate Kid, The NeverEnding Story, Total Recall, etc.), board game adaptations (Candy Land, Ouija, Battleship, and many, many more), plots based on random kids' toys (Stretch Armstrong, Major Matt Mason), so it should come as no surprise that Tinseltown's newest target is classic video games.

I'm not talking Tomb Raider or Resident Evil or Max Payne or anything made in the last twenty years.  I'm talking old-school games, like Atari's Asteroids from 1979.  Too young to remember it?  Then press play below and marvel at the brilliance of its simplicity...

... and then laugh at the ridiculousness of trying to turn a "spaceship" (triangle) shooting "asteroids" (circles) out of the sky into a movie.  But four studios took part in a bidding war over the film rights, isn't that crazy?  The winner was Universal (meaning that there will probably be a theme park ride in the works, too), with Lorenzo di Bonaventura (the upcoming GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra) attached to produce and Matthew Lopez (Bedtime Stories) set to write the screenplay. 

I've got to be more than a bit skeptical about this movie (why couldn't they just make a sci-fi space-based film and not try to claim that it's related in any way to Asteroids?), just like I continue to have my doubts about the Area 51 movie (which was announced in 2004 and has yet to materialize) and the Pac-Man movie (which also hasn't had any movement for five years).  Even the Castlevania adaptation was eventually canceled after four years of development hell, and that one actually had gaming nerds excited.

So we'll see if Asteroids ever makes it to the big screen, but in the meantime I'm bracing for more news of video game-related film projects.  The only one I'd be psyched for is Joust: The Movie.  I mean, just look at the freak show that was its commercial from back in the day.  Imagine what they could do with an FX budget and some big-name actors!   Flying Ostriches 4EVA!

Comments

[Trevor]

The Joust commercial is epic. I'm just sayin.

[Spaz]

Wow. I'd never known such a commercial ever existed.

I am now enlightened.

[Spaz]

Ask and ye shall receive?

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118005658.html?categoryid=18&cs=1