pamela pettler Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Well, it's official: The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Hasbro and Universal are moving forward on that movie based on the Monopoly board game by not only hiring Pamela Pettler (Corpse Bride, Monster House) to write the screenplay, but also by bringing Ridley Scott (who was simply a producer before) on as director. There's no mention of a solid story here yet, but THR does say that Scott plans to give the flick "a futuristic sheen along the lines of his iconic Blade Runner." Apart from Monopoly -- and as mentioned previously on Cinematical -- Universal and Hasbro are also working on adapting other games like Ouija Board and Battleship for the big screen too.

But what about Monopoly? Considering the struggling economy and how folks all over the world are losing property, do you think this is the right or wrong time to make a movie like this? I mean, the main point of the board game is to create a monopoly and bankrupt the other players, right? So who, exactly, will we be rooting for? A character by the name of Bill Yates? That said, I do dig the futuristic possibilities, and the comparisons to Blade Runner, so it'll be interesting to see what they end up with. And also, seeing as Pettler's written these family-friendly flicks, I wonder if that will be their direction as well.

Thoughts?

After he finishes Spider-Man 3, director Sam Raimi will reportedly be heading in a very different direction, taking the helm of an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Wee Free Men. The book, which is apparently wildly popular among the younger set, tells the story of young girl who has to rescue her brother from parallel world when he's been taken by a "malicious fairy queen." (Hmm. Sounds a lot like Labyrinth - I wonder if there's singing.) While in Fairyland, the girl finds allies in "6-inch-tall blue-faced rowdies who dress in kilts, speak in broad Scottish brogues, pinch sheep and swig a lot." Yes, it really says that. The script will be written by Pamela Pettler, whose only other film is Corpse Bride - if nothing else she certainly knows how to deal with something this quirky.

So, has anyone read Pratchett's book? The story sounds wonderful, and the presence of Pettler is certainly encouraging. In addition, Raimi's past - hello, Army of Darkness! - suggests he's also got just the right outlook for something this outrageous. Needless to say, it'll be ages before anything moves on this one, but it certainly is worth keeping an eye on.