Peter Berg's BATTLESHIP Movie Coming out July 2011
As we have told you Universal Pictures is making a major motion picture on Hasbro's naval combat board game, Battleship, and Peter Berg is officially attached to direct the movie. I just don't see how they are going to make a movie based on this board game unless it really has nothing to do with the board game, like making a movie about battling battleships during World War II, but then it wouldn't really be based on the board game. I wonder if they are going to end up taking the Jumanji and Zathura route, but that would be pretty lame.
Battleship will be the second Hasbro property to be released by Universal. Stretch Armstrong is set to be released April 11, 2011, and screenwriter Steve Oedekerk, is about to turn his script in for it. Who knows how that one is going to turn out as well, but Universal say's that these are "powerful brands," and that "Battleship is a big opportunity." I can only hope they develop a decent movie out of it.
Aside from Battleship and Stretch Armstrong, Universal is separately developing Clue with Gore Verbinski, Monopoly with Ridley Scott, Candyland with director Kevin Lima, and Ouija with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes. So this is what we have to look forward to in Hollywood, we have gone from comic books, 80's remakes of TV shows, and video games to board games, and toys.
Peter Berg talks about his passion for this kind of film where it came from and where he is headed with it. and vaguely answers the questions that are on our mind.
I've been consumed with doing one of these since I tried to convince Tom Rothman at Fox to make a film about John Paul Jones, the founder of the American Navy. As a kid, I was dragged from Navy museum to museum, and spent so much time on ships, listening to my father talk about the great battles of WWII, I did my high school thesis on the Battle of Midway. When this came up, it didn't take me long to find a take for a film that is filled with raucous action-packed naval battles.
Action-packed naval battles? Nice. Berg went on to call the pic:
A contemporary story of an international five-ship fleet engaged in a very dynamic, violent and intense battle.
So there you have it. From what it sounds like Battleship wont really be based on the game at all, it looks like they are going to use the games name and popularity to help sell an action packed film about naval battles, which is awesome!
After Berg is done with Battleship he will direct another film at Universal called Lone Survivor, which is a fact-based story he scripted about a Navy SEAL team that is sent to Afghanistan and is ambushed. Now that sounds like it will be a good movie!
What are your thoughts on this Battleship movie? Are you down for wach a hug naval battle take place before your eyes?
Source: Variety