You not remember, but near the end of 2009 we made up a list of the Dumbest Movie Projects announced that year and among the them were “Battleship,” “Candyland,” “Monopoly” and “Clue.” Yes, Hasbro is ready to turn their boardgames into viable franchises and while movement has been probably a bit slower than they might want — “Battleship” won’t come out until next year — they are taking matters into their own hands whether or not they have studio participation.
Universal, their Hollywood partner for these flicks, signed a six year exclusive deal in 2008 with the toy company to bring these board games to life, but it seems they are getting cold feet. With a $200 million price tag, “Battleship” is ludicrously expensive (and looks godawful) and the belt-cinching studio — which has recently killed off “At The Mountains Of Madness” and “The Dark Tower” for being both costly and risky — seems to be wavering a bit on their commitment. “Monopoly,” “The Gathering” and “Magic” movies have all been turned down by Universal and the latest to join that bunch is “Clue.” But never fear, it’s still happening anyway.
Hasbro has hired Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama (“Flash Gordon,” “Dracula: Year Zero“) to pen the script which will turn the game into a globe trotting murder mystery. No word yet on if they’ll film a bunch of alternate endings like they did for 1985 comedic take on the game. So what does this mean for the Universal/Habro relationship? Are they still buds? Well, yeah. Development continues on “Candyland,” “Ouija” (which has McG attached to direct) and “Stretch Armstrong” (with Taylor Lautner in the lead) as all you childhood memories are set to become Happy Meal toys in the near future. Meanwhile, Hasbro is continuing work on their own with Scott Free on “Monopoly” with Ridley Scott still somewhat inconceivably attached.
As for “Clue,” it’s a while off anyway. Verbinski is gearing up the “Lone Ranger” to shoot this fall, though we figure it’s only a matter of time before Johnny Depp starts getting rumored for a part in “Clue.” Remember the Verbinski who made “The Weather Man” and “The Mexican“? Yeah, we don’t either.
