Atari and Universal Set 10 Classic Games for Movie Development
Atari has signed a deal with Universal Pictures to develop movies from 10 classics, including Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Missile Command, and Pong.
Atari has signed a deal with Universal Pictures and Entertainment 360 that gives the studio the right to develop films based on 10 classic Atari game properties. The list includes Asteroids, Adventure, Berzerk, Breakout, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong, and Yars’ Revenge.
Universal has already acquired the first project from the partnership, an original feature screenplay by Matt Reilly and Carl Hampe based on an Atari property. Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady is set to produce, with Reilly and Hampe also producing. Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen said the company is working with Universal and Entertainment 360 to bring the spirit of its games to a new medium.
The deal arrives during Hollywood’s ongoing rush for game adaptations, but these are games whose original appeal often came from mechanics and imagination rather than ready-made plots. Pong gives a screenwriter a paddle, a ball, and a blank space.