Get ready to get your nom and waka waka on running from ghosts with Pac-Man. A major live-action film based on the classic arcade game Pac-Man is in the works.
Wayfarer Studios and Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., which created Pac-Man as well as other games like Galaga and Tekken, have announced their plans to work together to develop and produce a live-action film based on the iconic video game franchise Pac-Man. Based on an original story idea created by Chuck Williams (Sonic the Hedgehog, Brother Bear) of Lightbeam Entertainment, the feature draws from one of the most influential and longest-running video game franchises in history. In the game, users play as Pac-Man who has to eat colorful pellets while being chased by brightly colored ghosts in mazes that get increasingly more difficult with each level.
Since the original arcade video game was originally released in 1980 by Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (previously known just as Namco), Pac-Man has remained a cultural icon over the last 40 years. Justin Baldoni, Manu Gargi, Andrew Calof, and Tracy Ryerson will develop for Wayfarer Studios, which recently announced a $125M investment to further boost the company’s strategic growth. Wayfarer Studios is also behind the Disney+ feature Clouds, along with the football drama The Senior and coming-of-age dramedy Empire Waist on the studios’ upcoming slate. Williams will also be producing on behalf of Lightbeam along with Tim Kwok.
Pac-Man has become synonymous with gaming specifically with coin-operated arcade games for generations of players worldwide. Originally known as “Puck-Man” in Japan, the video-game gained more popularity than it when it was introduced to the United States in October 1980 with the name it retains today. The obsession with the arcade game became fondly known as "Pac-Man fever” and the massive admiration led to robust marketing and merchandising programs with more than 400 items as well as two separate TV series in the US. It even led to the creation of ever-popular sequel games like the Ms. Pac-Man, which was prominently featured in an episode in the final season of Friends. The game became so popular that the Guinness World Records bestowed the title of the "Most Successful Coin-Operated game machine" to Pac-Man in 2005. With new console games launching every year along with mobile games, its popularity has spread around the world for more than 40 years.
In addition to being a producer for Sonic: The Hedgehog and Brother Bear, Williams has worked previously in editorial for the 1992 Disney classic Aladdin as well as the in animation for 1989’s iconic The Little Mermaid. Williams has been listed as a producer for the upcoming book-to-film adaptation of Tor Seidler’s book Mean Margaret. He is slated to be a director and producer with Aaron Blaise for The Legend of Tembol.
Check out the trailer for Sonic: The Hedgehog below: