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Thursday, November 5, 2009
From Board Game to Big Screen
Risk: The Movie. Do you cast Djimon Hounsou to play Africa?

In recent years, moviegoers have seen theme-park rides adapted to screen (Pirates of the Caribbean) and popular toys become the stars of summer blockbusters (Transformers). And even though Clue: The Movie wasn't a hit, it was just a matter of time before Hollywood producers rifled through their kids' toy chest s to consider the big-screen potential of other  board games. 

As was reported by the Los Angeles Times this summer, Transformers' Michael Bay has been linked to a Ouija movie, Pirates'  Gore Verbinski has expressed interest in a Clue re-do and Hancock's Peter Berg wants to board Battleship. One might well joke, what's next, Candy Land? Except that Enchanted's Kevin Lima has his dibs on that and Gladiator's Ridley Scott on - this is not a joke -- Monopoly.  (Expect Baltic Avenue to be as tough a proving ground as the Roman Forum in Gladiator.)

Still, I was surprised at today's news that Risk has been optioned for a screen adaptation by Sony Pictures. What's left? Scrabble? (I can think of a couple of actors suitable to be cast as the blank.)

Your thoughts? Is there a game you'd like to see adapted?  Should the movie Monopoly chronicle  Donald Trump's real estate adventures in Atlantic City? Flickgrrl welcomes your riffs.

Posted by Carrie Rickey @ 3:01 PM  Permalink | 7 comments
Comments   
Posted 02:57 PM, 11/05/2009
garyk
I'll wait for SUDUKO: THE MOVIE, because I like films with subtitles.
Posted 03:00 PM, 11/05/2009
ccjroberts
Not a game on the order of the ones you've mentioned. Your three short paragraphs are really depressing. I'm glad there are a lot of movies I'd like to see that I haven't seen and books I'd like to read that I haven't read. I don't want to see any of these movies/game commercials. Chess is always an interesting subject and I'm sure there are other traditional games like Go and Mancala that could make interesting film material. Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game still hasn't been filmed, has it?
Posted 03:06 PM, 11/05/2009
allison811
I saw a trailer the other day about professional rock, paper and scissors players which I thought was long overdue. Also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a film version of Jenga.
Posted 03:18 PM, 11/05/2009
mariopd
Was there ever a movie about a scavenger hunt? Perhaps it could be something like an updated version of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
Posted 05:37 PM, 11/05/2009
Bob Ross
How about a cops-and-firefighters movie called Shoots and Ladders?
Posted 11:30 AM, 11/06/2009
Susan23
Do you think they will make the TickleMe Plant into a movie or board game? My kids love how the leaves fold up and branches droop when they Tickle It. It's more like a pet then plant. If you need a unique gift this is it. http://www.ticklemeplant.com
Posted 06:12 PM, 11/06/2009
wwolfe
Well, it's not a board game, but I wish they'd make a movie based on craps. For the simple reason that the name would provide reviewers everywhere with the perfect straightline. (My all-time favorite from this admittedly tiny sub-genre remains Alexander Woolcott's one-sentence review of a play called "I Shall Make Music": "Not on my carpet, lady.)
7 comments
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About Carrie Rickey

Carrie Rickey has been The Philadelphia Inquirer’s film critic for 21 years. She has reviewed films as diverse as Water and The Waterboy, profiled celebrities from Lillian Gish to Will Smith, and reported on technological breakthroughs from the video revolution to the rise of movies on demand. Her reviews are syndicated nationwide and she is a regular contributor to Entertainment Weekly. Rickey’s essays appear in numerous anthologies, including The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, The American Century, and the Library of America’s American Movie Critics.

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All blog items posted before May 23, 2008, can be accessed at http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/flickgrrl/.

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