More Atari Video Games Coming to a Theater Near You
Deadline reports that the classic Atari video games Centipede and Missle Command are getting movie adaptations.
Based on the classic video games from 1980, the films will be produced by Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films in a deal that partners the production company with Atari to develop the properties for film. Randall Emmett and George Furla will produce for E/F/O with Stephen Belafonte, Wayne Marc Godfrey, and Robert Jones as executive producers along with Atari looking over everyone’s shoulders.
Atari CEO Fred Chesnais said, “Centipede and Missile Command are part of Atari’s unparalleled and rich library of popular games and we cannot wait to see the movies come to life.”
Emmett says the games are “immensely popular titles have been enjoyed by generations of gamers worldwide. We look forward to a very successful partnership and to bringing Centipede and Missile Command to the big screen.”
The games have similar plots: shooters on the ground have to destroy an invading force raining down from above. In Centipede, players battle insects — centipedes, spiders, scorpions, etc. — with the object of the game to destroy the pests before they got to the ground. Missile Command, likewise, pits the players against a hail of missile fire as they rain down on six California cities.
This is not the first time Atari properties have been optioned for movie adaptations. Universal Studios has been working on Asteroids since 2009, only recently hiring F. Scott Frazier to take a crack at a script, something already attempted by Matt Lopez, Evan Spiliotopoulos and Jez Butterworth.
Hey, it worked so well for Battleship, right?
via: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
