Hasbro has now entered the rarefied air of ambitious franchise-herding movers and shakers in Hollywood. Spurred on by the success of “Transformers,” plans have moved ahead to stretch paper thin ideas adapt the Ouija Board, Candyland, Clue, Battleship and the Stretch Armstrong toy for the big screen. In the ultimate case of synergy, these movies will be cross-promotional bonanzas, but will they be good? Their flagship attempt, “Monopoly,” looks like it at least has a chance with Ridley Scott attached to direct. Hasbro CEO and “Monopoly” executive producer Brian Goldner had this to say about the development of the project:
“The whole world is about the financial markets,” he says to MTV. “You can’t turn on the news today without understanding the financial markets and what’s going on out there.” He goes on to say that there will be no actual Monopoly being played in the movie, and that the characters will represent the playing pieces, the “icons of the game”- which, I assume, locks Seth Green in as The Shoe.
Ridley Scott is adamant about the project. “I have to direct it,” he told MTV News. “We’re in progress right now. We’re having it written. We have identified a pretty good story and it is fundamentally a movie, not a game, probably describing in a way the characters in the film, the passion of the game, and how the game came about.” If you say so, pal.
