Because movies based off of videogames always means high quality and big profits except in the case of never, Fox is adapting the 1980 Atari arcade game Missile Command. According to Variety, screenwriters Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (reboot of Flash Gordon and Dracula: Year Zero) will pen the script while Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark will produce. Like pretty much every video game released in 1980, Missile Command lacks a story. The object of the game is to protect cities from a barrage of missiles, possibly from a command center.
This is the third Atari videogame getting a film adaptation. Universal picked up Asteroids back in July 2009 while Sony Pictures Animation acquired Rollercoaster Tycoon last May. While the lack of a story beyond “Fight missiles” could free up Sharpless and Sazama to do something creative, I’m betting the film will ultimately be a generic military thriller with maybe a sci-fi spin for good measure.
VERONICA MARS Movie Kickstarter Project Reaches and Exceeds Funding Goal of $2 Million, Reaching $1 Million in Record-Setting Time
THE LONE RANGER International Trailer Packs an Explosive Punch
6 New Images and First Poster for KICK-ASS 2
First Red-Band Trailer for KICK-ASS 2 Starring Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Jim Carrey
Sylvester Stallone Wants More Humor for EXPENDABLES 3, Hopes to Add Jackie Chan and Promises “Young Blood”
As easy as it is to toss away this project as another exercise in futility, Missile Command is one of the rare games with actually a lot going on in its game mechanics, although how the strengths of an interactive game translates to non interactive film is a whole other debate but moving on.
Anyway Missile Command is actually an interesting choice narrative speaking, in its game incarnation its a game there’s a great amount of subtext about the tragedy of violence, the frustration of defense, the cost of sacrifice etc. Actually there was a bit over at the Escapist about narrative mechanics implemented into games and Missile Command was the example; http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2545-Narrative-Mechanics , it’s actually quite interesting.
But again you come crashing into the brick wall that is the lack of screenwriter’s talent, or experience for that matter, of translating a game into a movie.