Atari Teams With Universal for 10 Classic Video Game Movies

If you grew up glued to an Atari 2600 with a joystick in one hand and endless imagination doing the rest, this is some seriously fun movie news.

Atari is teaming up with Universal Pictures to bring 10 of its most iconic video game properties to the big screen, and it sounds like this is only the beginning of what could become a really entertaining franchise initiative.

Through a new partnership with Entertainment 360, Atari has signed a deal giving Universal the rights to develop 10 classic Atari game properties into feature films.

Universal has already picked up the first project from the collaboration, an original feature based on Atari intellectual property that will be produced by Entertainment 360's Guymon Casady from a screenplay written by Matt Reilly and Carl Hampe. Reilly and Hampe are also producing the project.

What's especially interesting is that this isn't simply adapting one specific game into a movie. The whole thing was sparked by an original spec script from Reilly, a longtime Universal executive who later transitioned into screenwriting and producing, and Hampe, whose previous writing credits include the Hellboy and Jungle Cruise franchises.

The lineup of Atari properties involved in the deal is packed with classics that helped define an entire generation of gaming. The ten titles include Asteroids, Adventure, Berzerk, Breakout, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong, and Yars' Revenge. The goal is to transform these legendary games into large-scale action-adventure films.

It's honestly a really cool concept. Most of these games didn't rely on elaborate stories. Instead, they dropped players into simple but cool worlds and let their imaginations fill in the blanks.

That leaves filmmakers with a ton of creative freedom to build exciting adventures while still capturing the spirit of the original games. If they can pull it off, this could end up being a very fun way to introduce these classics to a whole new generation.

Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen shared his excitement about the partnership, saying: “For more than five decades, Atari has created games and worlds that have remained part of popular culture long after their original release. We are excited to work with Universal and Entertainment 360 to bring the spirit of our iconic brand and games to a new medium.”

Entertainment 360's Guymon Casady explained what drew everyone to the project, saying: “Matt Reilly and I grew up playing Atari 2600 games and have remained fans ever since.

“The best Atari games dropped you into a world and let your imagination do the rest. Carl and Matt saw an opportunity to take that same spirit and build an original, large-scale adventure around it. From the moment we read the screenplay, we believed there was a great movie here.”

Instead of trying to force a thin game premise into a feature-length story, they're using the feeling those games created as the foundation for something bigger. That's probably the smartest way to handle properties like Asteroids, Adventure, or Missile Command, which are the most excited to me.

Video game adaptations have come a long way over the last several years, with audiences embracing faithful, creative takes on beloved gaming franchises.

It'll be exciting to see if Atari can join that growing list of success stories. There's a lot of nostalgia attached to these games, but there's also plenty of room to build fresh adventures that capture the same sense of fun players experienced decades ago.

I'm especially curious to see which of these properties makes it to theaters after the first film. Adventure has always felt like it could inspire a fantastic fantasy epic, while Missile Command and Asteroids have obvious blockbuster potential.

Even something as simple as Breakout or Pong could end up becoming surprisingly inventive in the hands of the right creative team.

Here's hoping Universal, Atari, and Entertainment 360 can deliver movies that are every bit as entertaining as these games were back in the day. There's a lot of potential here, and it'd be awesome to see these classic Atari worlds come to life on the big screen in a way that's just plain fun.

Source: Deadline