Universal has secured the film rights to classic Atari arcade game Asteroids, according to a story from The Hollywood Reporter. The report says the movie will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) and written by Matthew Lopez (Bedtime Stories). Released in arcades in 1979, Asteroids featured a triangular ship as players attempted to blast through huge meteors. Players could rotate the ship, but only moved by using a thrust button.
Asteroids is not the only arcade game slated to get the box office treatment. Entertainment mag Variety reported last year of a deal involving the big-screen adaptation of Pac-Man.
Players could rotate the ship, but only moved by using a thrust button.
Don't forget about hyperspace!
It's amazing, when you know a little something about a subject, how much the press in this country gets wrong.
Asteroids would be a good movie for a screenwriter to adapt. They're all geniuses that throw out the source material anyway, so giving them nothing but "ship," "big ufo," "small ufo" and "asteroid" is about what they can, as a whole, comfortably handle.
That being said, no WAY are there two different sizes of UFOs.
Or any UFOs.
And I wouldn't put money that the screenwriter includes a ship.
... Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if the guy writes the thing up and intentionally eliminates the presence of any asteroids.
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 1:34 pm
by Flack
They already made this movie and it was called "Death Blossom".
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 2:10 pm
by AArdvark
The movie will be as long as the quarters hold out then game over.
What kind of story will it be?
I didn't read the link so I wouldn't be biased.
A] Space Seebees need to clear the asteroids for a hyperspace bypass. Aliens are discovered living amongst the rocks and attack unmercifully, using a random up-and-down motion.
B] An asteroid swarm is headed towards earth, bringing the Deep Impact and Armageddon storylines to reality. Space Seebees are sent to save the planet by blowing up the rocks. Aliens are discovered to be the ones responsible for the swarm in the first place, they need to kill off life on Earth to make room for a hyperspace bypass.
That's just two possible stories that would cover the gameplay. I'm sure the writers are sitting around a cabinet right now thinking up more stuff.
THE
WHAT'S THE DEAL
WITH PAC-MAN?
AARDVARK
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 3:34 pm
by Ice Cream Jonsey
I will confess that the thing that would make me happiest would be if someone essentially ported the story of James Cameron's "Titanic" to Asteroids. Nothing would be better for me and my genes than an entire generation of young women becoming involuntarily flush at the mere mention of rocks in space.