ouija Tagged Articles at Cinematical

So I'm not going to waste anyone's time by decrying the decision to make major motion pictures out of board games; Lord knows enough time and ink have already been devoted to that topic. But, regardless of what you may think about Hollywood's creative choices (or lack thereof), I know most of you were curious as to what exactly movies based on Monopoly, Candy Land, and Ouija Boards were going to be about. Thanks to MTV, we now have our first taste of Hasbro on the big screen.

First up is Ridley Scott's Monopoly, which is probably the strangest in the bunch because you wouldn't necessarily pair the macho director with a film about real estate. It gets stranger, though, because the movie isn't just Jumanji with land transfer taxes. Instead, Goldner tells MTV, "The whole world is about the financial markets...Pamela Pettler who's writing this great script about real people kind of playing a real-life game of 'Monopoly,' not the board game, although they're icons of the game. And then you really get the idea why this story could make sense right now." ... And I don't think I'm alone in saying that would be the first thing that does make sense since the film was announced.

Next up is Candy Land. Monika already brought us the news in February that Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen was at work on a script, but today MTV finally gave us a peek at what's planned. Goldner told MTV, "Imagine if you took that basic idea of going to a better place, and then allowed the audience to go to that same place together. But then you come to find out, like every other place that's promised to just be all better and all sweets and candy, you come to find out there's actually some controversy there as well." Controversy and candy canes? I guess it helps to imagine Pleasantville with gumdrops.

After the jump find out what Goldner had to say about the spooky game flick, Ouija.

We already know some studios (like Universal) are looking to bring our most favorite childhood games to the big screen, including Monopoly, Ouija, Candy Land, Clue (which was already a film), Battleship and a few others. And while at first it might sound rather ridiculous, you'd be amazed to see the types of stories a few clever Hollywood screenwriters could throw together for these. Heck, I can't imagine Candy Land would differ greatly from something like Willy Wonka.

That said, the folks over at Worth 1000 launched a photoshop contest recently in which the idea was to take a popular children's game and create a movie poster for it. The poster above for Monopoly (which director Ridley Scott is apparently developing for real) doesn't make much sense, but I do admire the casting choices. Could you imagine a film based on the Monopoly board game having a cast like that? After settling all their paychecks, you'd have -- what -- fifteen bucks to shoot the thing? Check out a few more of our favorites in the gallery below.

Out of all your favorite childhood games, which could you see becoming the most worthwhile film?



Related: Cinematical Seven: Bad Ideas for Board Game Movies

When I say "Platinum Dunes," you probably think "horror remake" -- which only makes sense since PD is the production company that brought you The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hitcher, and The Amityville Horror. (Plus they also have Friday the 13th and The Birds on the way.) But it sure looks like Platinum bosses Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller are trying to deliver some (relatively) original product. They've already got David Goyer's The Unborn in production ... and now they're signed up to deliver Ouija Board: The Movie. (title not official)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ouija will hit the big screen courtesy of Platinum Dunes, Universal Pictures, Hasbro, and producer / screenwriter David Berenbaum. (His credits include Elf and The Spiderwick Chronicles.) No director has been named yet, and the top secret premise is being described as "a supernatural adventure..." I smell a PG-13 horror flick.

All I know is I hope it's better than Witchboard.

Looking to get in on the -- well -- game, Universal has partnered with Hasbro to develop feature films based on at least four of their branded properties. Those include Monopoly, Candy Land, Clue, Ouija, Battleship, Magic, the Gathering and Stretch Armstrong. The move comes after Paramount snatched up Transformers and G.I. Joe, which means neither is part of this new deal. There's already been talk that Ridley Scott will direct a film based on the Monopoly board game, and the director even spoke about it recently -- but the others are all completely up in the air as of now.

Out of these, I could honestly see a very cute Wonka-ish film coming from Candy Land, and Stretch Armstrong could be fun if it was developed as a comedy for someone like, say, Jim Carrey. Clue was already made into a film, so the framework is there, and Battleship could go a number of different ways (though ship movies never seem to excite us all that much unless Leo DiCaprio is involved). I don't know much about Magic, the Gathering, except that it's very popular and would probably entice the teen audience, and Ouija could go either the comedic route or the haunting thriller route. As much as I'd like to trash this entire deal, fact is I really can see some potential in these games, assuming they bring onboard the right talent, the right director and the right creative minds.

What about you? Which game could you see becoming the next big motion picture?