A little over a week after we sang the praises of screenwriter Marti Noxon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Fright Night,” “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”), news has come through that she’s gone over to the dark side, working with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes on that adaptation of the “Ouija” board game the world’s been clamoring for. It’s unclear if Noxon has taken on this project due to its “gender politics” potential, but we’d guess it has something to do with that Bay money.
Just a few months ago, Universal shelled out $5 million to get rid of a proposed Simon Kinberg-written, McG-directed adaptation of the board game. The film “is still envisioned as a family adventure in the tone of ‘The Mummy’ centering on a family who has to deal with otherwordly chaos that is unleashed.” McG was still trying to hustle his vision in the summer, but it appears he has moved on.
Universal also recently dropped a proposed Ridley Scott-directed adaptation of “Monopoly,” so there was hope that the board game craze was winding down, but that might have just been due to response to the super lame-looking first trailer for “Battleship.”
Even though Michael Bay is the “creative engine” behind this endeavor, Hasbro is financing the development. They are no doubt hungry for another hit after the last Shia LaBeouf/Michael Bay “Transformers” sequel left theatres with a cool billion dollars worldwide.
Here’s hoping Noxon can fashion this thing into a respectable family action film—more "The Mummy" than “The Mummy Returns" and Michael Bay hires anyone other than himself to direct. [THR]