Ouija

Marti Noxon to Re-Write Script for OUIJA

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 29th, 2011 at 1:42 pm

The feature film adaptation of the Hasbro board game Ouija continues to cycle through screenwriters.  Last November, TRON Legacy screenwriters Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz were hired to come up with a script based on the black magic that comes from a piece of cardboard and plastic pointer you can buy at Target.  Then Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Lion King 1 ½) was hired to work on the script, and now Heat Vision reports that screenwriting duties have now passed to Marti Noxon (Fright Night).  Noxon was also hired last May to write a new draft of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a film which can’t keep its directors or find bankable lead actors.

McG was attached to direct Ouija, but there’s no mention of him in Heat Vision’s story.  Losing McG would not be the worst thing that could happen to any movie.  Ouija is still looking for a home after Universal dropped the film back in August, but Hasbro still envisions the movie “as a family adventure in the tone of The Mummy centering on a family who has to deal with otherwordly chaos that is unleashed.”  Hopefully, the family will learn the danger of buying Hasbro games.

Exclusive: McG Talks OUIJA, Future Film and TV Projects, and the Possibility of a TERMINATOR: SALVATION Director’s Cut Release

by Christina Radish    Posted: October 5th, 2011 at 9:12 pm

At the press junket for the new interactive web series Aim High, starring Jackson Rathbone (Jasper in The Twilight Saga) and Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights), executive producer McG was there to express his passion for the cutting edge project that will incorporate viewers’ personal Facebook profiles into the story of a high school student (Rathbone) living a double life as a government operative while dreaming of the most popular girl in school (Teegarden).

While we will run that portion of the interview closer to the web series’ October 18^th premiere, we did want to let you know what he had to say about what else he’s currently juggling. In post-production on the action-comedy This Means War (starring Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hardy and Chris Pine) and with six television series currently in development for next season, McG said that he’s looking at a few films right now and will probably decide what he’ll focus on next before the holidays. With so many things on his plate, not everything will end up actually getting made, which he said may be the case with the Ouija board movie that Universal dropped from their production schedule. And, while he knows they did a lot of things right with Terminator: Salvation, he also knows that they did a lot of things wrong, so only time will tell whether or not that director’s cut with all the additional footage will ever be released on DVD/Blu-ray. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Universal Passes on the OUIJA Movie

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: August 23rd, 2011 at 10:01 pm

Universal disappointed the movie blog community twice this year when it had to pass on Guillermo del Toro’s At the Mountains of Madness and the ambitious adaptation of The Dark Tower.  But there’s another side to that coin—caution also led the studio to pass on oft ridiculed board game adaptations like Clue, Monopoly, and Magic: The Gathering.  According to Vulture, you can add Ouija to that list now that Universal has paid a $5 million penalty to Hasbro to back out of the development deal.  Producer Michael Bay and director McG (Terminator Salvation) will shop the project—envisioned as a big-budget family fantasy—to other studios next week .  Paramount might seem like the natural candidate, given their previous success with Bay and Hasbro on the Transformers series.  However, Vulture hears the studio passed on the proposal.  Maybe this thing really is dead.  Who, other than McG, would mourn the passing of the Ouija movie directed by McG?

Universal hasn’t abandoned all Hasbro properties just yet.  Battleship is scheduled for release in summer 2012, the first true test of the viability of these movies amid the modern rush to adapt board games.  And as far as we know, Universal is still working on Stretch Armstrong with Taylor Lautner and a Candy Land movie, though neither project seems as safe as it did yesterday.

Evan Spiliotopoulos to Rewrite McG’s QUIJA

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 19th, 2011 at 4:53 pm

Screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos (The Lion King 1 ½) has been brought in to work on the script for Universal’s adaptation of the board game Quija. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Tron: Legacy) were initially set to pen the screenplay, but Heat Vision reports that Spiliotopoulos will be doing a rewrite.

McG (Terminator Salvation) is set to direct the flick, which is said to be a family adventure story in the vein of The Mummy and Indiana Jones. However, with the addition of Spiliotopoulos, it sounds like this could very well end up being much closer to Jumanji. The scribe has worked on a number of Disney straight-to-DVD releases in the past, with his most recent being Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. However, Spiliotopoulos also did a draft of Wanted 2 and worked on the comic book adaptation Agnes Quill. Ouija is set to be released on November 9^th, 2012.

JAMES BOND 23 Set for November 9, 2012

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 11th, 2011 at 12:01 pm

Now that MGM’s financial mess is settled, it looks like James Bond is finally back on track.  Deadline reports that Bond 23 (tentative title, obviously) is currently set for November 9, 2012.  Sam Mendes is still attached to direct and Daniel Craig will return as 007.  Production is set to begin late this year.  While a script from Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) was previously going to be used, Deadline is now reporting that Mendes will work from a script by Purvis, Wade, and Gladiator screenwriter John Logan.  Now let the title and Bond girl speculation begin!

Currently, the only other film holding the November 9, 2012 release date is McG’s Ouija.  The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is due out a week later.

McG Will Direct OUIJA

by Jason Barr    Posted: January 4th, 2011 at 6:31 pm

A few weeks ago, we reported that McG (Terminator Salvation) and Breck Eisner (The Crazies) would duke it out for the Ouija director’s chair.  Tonight we can confirm that McG has emerged victorious and will helm Universal’s adaptation of the Hasbro board game.  Per Heat Vision, the studio is now in negotiations with the director who will helm a script by Tron: Legacy scribes Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis.

While Universal and Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes are keeping plot details for Ouija close to the vest, it is believed that the film will be akin to adventure films such as The Mummy and Indiana Jones.  Maybe it’s just me, but this vague description keeps making me think that Ouija will come out looking a lot like a sequel to 1995′s Jumanji (a film that nine-year old me was none too fond of).  Again, it’s probably just me.  As for McG, his next directorial effort is the romantic comedy This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, and Tom Hardy.  Ouija currently has a release date of November 9, 2012.

McG and Breck Eisner Vie to Direct OUIJA

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: December 18th, 2010 at 1:18 pm

Though many have been considered, Universal’s Ouija adaptation is still without a director.  McG (Terminator Salvation) and Breck Eisner (The Crazies) are the latest to vie for the job, having presented their cinematic take on the supernatural board game to Universal executives over the past two weeks.  The studio still has time to be choosy, with a script in place from Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Tron: Legacy).  There is an implicit deadline to pick a director, though, with a set release date of November 9, 2012.

Hit the jump for some background information on the board game and how Universal intends to make it a movie.

Pierre Morel in Talks to Direct OUIJA and the Sam Raimi-Produced EDF (aka EARTH DEFNESE FORCE)

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 11th, 2010 at 9:02 pm

Pierre Morel (Taken), the last of the frontrunners to direct Ouija, presented his take on the project  to Universal earlier today. The studio has already seen the interpretations of Sylvain White (The Losers) and Scott Charles Stewart (Legion). Universal is reportedly banking on Ouija’s potential to become a supernatural action-adventure franchise. (Think Final Destination meets Jumanji.) It shouldn’t be long before an official announcement is made as to who will helm the Hasbro product adaptation.

Recently, Morel unburdened himsel from directing the Dune remake, seemingly making the Ouija project a priority. If it doesn’t work out, he has other projects to fall back on: Heat Vision reports Morel is in talks to direct Sam Raimi production of EDF (aka Earth Defense Force), in which the nations of the world unite to defend against an extraterrestrial threat. Oh, and then there’s the upcoming sequel to Morel’s action-packed Taken, which you may have heard about.

Hit the jump for a breakdown of what the spirits have told us about Ouija so far.

Universal Sets Release Dates for THE BOURNE LEGACY, OUIJA, THE DARK TOWER, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 29th, 2010 at 9:35 am

Universal Pictures has set release dates for some of its major upcoming films.  The studio has announced dates for Larry Crowne, Safe House, Contraband, The Bourne Legacy, Ouija, 47 Ronin, Snow White and the Huntsman, and The Dark Tower.  Hit the jump for the release dates for all of these films, other films that may share that weekend, and a brief refresher on each project.

Three Directorial Candidates for OUIJA; Thanksgiving 2012 Release Planned

by Kevin Panasiewicz    Posted: October 27th, 2010 at 6:17 pm

According to Deadline, Ouija, the film based on the Hasbro game popular among youth and cult worshipers alike, has three chief candidates vying for the director’s chair: The Losers director Sylvain White, Taken director Pierre Morel (which we reported on here), and Priest helmer Scott Stewart. A winner is suspected to emerge within the next couple weeks.

Ouija is one of three upcoming tentpole films with its origins stemming from a Hasbro product, with Peter Berg’s Battleship – which recently scored Liam Neeson as a Navy admiral – set for a May 18^th, 2012 release and Rob Letterman’s Stretch Armstrong – with Taylor Lautner attached to star - likely to go before lenses sometime in 2013. Ouija is penciled in for a Thanksgiving 2012 release. Hasbro and Platinum Dunes will be co-financing the picture with Universal.  Info on the Ouija Board and my thoughts on the candidates after the jump.

TAKEN Director Pierre Morel is the Lead Candidate to Helm the OUIJA Board Movie

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: October 19th, 2010 at 9:45 pm

Pierre Morel (Taken) is the lead candidate to direct the Platinum Dunes film based on the Ouija board.  The negotiations are still fresh, and there are other (unspecified) names up for the job, but Universal believes the French filmmaker has what it takes to bring this inherently plotless property to the big screen.

According to 24 Frames, the studio hopes to turn Ouija into an action-adventure tentpole — presumably one with franchise potential.  Morel is busy with his own large-scale actioner, undertaking an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel Dune.  Meanwhile, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Lost) are busy polishing the Ouija script, and Universal’s attention is divided amongst a number of toy-based movies: Battleship, Stretch Armstrong, Monopoly, Candy Land, and Clue.  Hit the jump for some background information on the Ouija board.

All Your Favorite Toys Coming Soon to a Theater Near You in HASBRO FACTORY

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 25th, 2010 at 11:40 am

What do you get when you cross Transformers, Play-Doh, Mr. Potato Head, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and the Easy-Bake Oven?  Well, if you’re Hasbro, you get an Avengers-style movie.  Hasbro has found crazy success with Transformers, moderate success with G.I. Joe, and likely will find varying degrees of success with forthcoming films based on Battleship, Micronauts, Risk, Stretch Armstrong, Ouija, Monopoly, Candy Land, and Clue.  (For more on those projects, check out this video interview with Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner)

It turns out the ubiquitous toy company is developing Hasbro Factory, a cinematic grouping all your favorite Hasbro toys.  Details are still scare, and there is no word yet on which specific toys will be called on to make an appearance, but Pajiba reports the project is “out to writers”.  Note that in an interview with Steve, Stretch Armstrong writer Nicholas Stoller claimed that Stretch wouldn’t be part of some expansive Hasbro universe (“It’s going to be totally its own thing”).  Never say never, I suppose.

Exclusive Interview: Platinum Dunes Producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET – Plus Updates on MONSTER SQUAD, OUIJA, FRIDAY THE 13th 2, and the NIGHTMARE Blu-ray will Have a 6-Minute Alternate Ending

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: April 26th, 2010 at 4:55 pm

Earlier today I got to sit down with Platinum Dunes producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller to talk about A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Since I’ve spoken to them many times about the movie on set and at last year’s Comic-Con, I decided to use my time asking about many things…not just what was it like to cast Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy.

During the ten minute interview we discussed box office numbers, how close were they to converting Nightmare to a 3D release, how are future projects being affected by 3D, what happened to Friday the 13th 2, what’s up with Butcherhouse Chronicles, Monster Squad and Ouija.  But the coolest thing I learned for fans of Nightmare is the Blu-ray/DVD will have a 6 minute alternate ending!

Hit the jump to watch the interview.  As always, I’ve time indexed it so you can watch the sections you care about:

TRON LEGACY Writers Move the Pointer to OUIJA

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 1st, 2009 at 11:32 pm

After speeding through the 80s arcade games of the “Tron” universe, “Tron Legacy” writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are going lo-tech with an adaptation of “Ouija” based on the popular board “game”.  Since I haven’t read the script for “Tron Legacy”, I’m not sure what made Kitsis and Horowitz the men for this job.  My best guess is that their agent and a movie executive whipped out “Ouija” and when the agent asked if Kitsis and Horowitz should write the movie, the spirits moved the pointer to “Yes”.  The spirits then used the numbers at the bottom to determine their quote.  The spirits seem to like the number “0″.

To read more about the project, hit the j…u…m…p…

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