The latest movie adaptation news out of Hasbro's impressive collection of properties concerns Monopoly, the family-favorite board game that teaches financial management and the brutal practice of capitalism. Hasbro Allspark Pictures will be producing the picture (ie the player) with Lionsgate now coming onboard to provide financing (ie the banker). In addition to this partnership, Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show) has been set to pen the adaptation, which is expected to center on a boy from the game's budget-priced Baltic Avenue who sets out into the world to make his fortune.
Variety reports on the progress of Monopoly, though there's little mention of Emmett/Furla, the production company that previously acquired the rights to the board game adaptation from Hasbro. They've been trying to get the project off the ground since 2013. This past January, producer Randall Emmett said that he expected to announce a cast and director soon, and that Monopoly would start filming in the summer. Clearly that didn't happen, but the news that Lionsgate has come onboard with an Oscar-nominated screenwriter is certainly promising. Here's what Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Co-President Erik Feig had to say about the partnership and Niccol's involvement:
“Hasbro is a partner with incredible global reach, one of the most compelling brand portfolios in the world, and a signature brand in Monopoly that has multigenerational appeal ... Andrew Niccol is the ultimate world creator responsible for such disparate and imaginative films as ‘The Truman Show,’ ‘Gattaca’ and ‘The Terminal.' He is an inspired choice to develop this timeless property into a big, crowd-pleasing event film that will appeal to kids, families and anyone who has ever played the Monopoly game.”
Though we haven't heard any more on the script, it sounds like it was originally pitched in the vein of Goonies, centering around young protagonists who come across a treasure map. It will be some time before we get an official synopsis, but until that time, it's in Niccol's hands.