It would seem the board game bubble is bursting in Hollywood, as Universal has dropped yet another high-profile project with big names attached– McG’s Ouija. The project was the focus of a long search for a filmmaker to back it, during which the studio was very picky about who they would negotiate with. Even Michael Bay had his finger in the pie as an acting producer. Now, mere weeks after Universal cut loose Gore Verbinski’s Clue and allowed several of their other Hasbro partnerships to lapse back to the toymaker, the folks behind Ouija are out shopping for other studios to back its big budget.
I wonder if this says something about Battleship? Do they not like what they see? Are they starting to suspect it might fail? If that’s the case, it’s not difficult to imagine their sphincters tightening in the face of other extremely expensive pitches for blockbusters based on board game brands of specious box office value. Verbinski, Bay, McG… these are not names synonymous with cheap, and Universal has clearly demonstrated their enthusiasm for nipping costly buds. This was being developed as a large-scale adventure movie in the style of Jumanji, so it was absolutely a huge commitment from the gun-shy studio. This continues to feel like a giant case of buyer’s remorse many years in the making, one that I kinda had a hunch was coming.
Should we expect to see an expensive-sounding Candyland go down in flames as well?
I’m wondering how many of these Hasbro properties will actually get made at all. When the Lautner-starring Abduction flops next month (it has to, right?), will they want to shell out for a Stretch Armstrong feature?
Keep in mind that Universal is paying Hasbro 5 million a pop to shut down these projects, so someone somewhere is getting nervous that they got a little too enthusiastic about setting up shop in this particular IP “goldmine.” I don’t think this is the end of the pulled plugs, but we’ll see. In an age where Disney can’t even make an adventure film starring Johnny Depp that’s being developed by their biggest former moneymakers, even the biggest projects can’t take themselves for granted until cameras roll…
Source | NY Mag
7 comments
I’m sure there’s an Ouija movie you can do under five million? I don’t think the Witchboard movies had that much money combined.
A stripped-down, truly scary horror film is in there somewhere… and Jumanji it ain’t. Great visual for this article, btw.
Feeling a bit relieved to see this come to pass. I am very worried about the future of film, what with toys and games so regularly serving as the inspiration for so much of today’s blockbuster cinema only to have the public eat up such drivel in record numbers. Where is the originality? At least for now it seems perhaps humans were not quite ready to embrace this next level of IDIOCRACY, and the studios have realized they need to hold off before rolling out HAPPY MEAL: THE MOTION PICTURE
As for BATTLESHIP, I thought it could have been cool to see the US NAVY vs CHINA in an apocalyptic final war, but the trailer with the aliens was just bad.. and frankly, kind of boring. I hope it fails, and I hope Mr Neeson gets his head straight and decides to care again. The death of his wife must have hurt, and I can understand throwing yourself into work, but he should choose the projects more carefully. It seems his only pleasure these days comes from cashing big studio paychecks, as his on screen persona is humorless and sullen
BTW: I have to agree with others that say you could make a cool OIJA film, but do it as a small scale horror movie. The idea that everything needs to be chock full of whatever bombast 200 million dollars will buy you these days is just wrong headed thinking on every level. Like the LONE RANGER film that was going to be packed to the brim with CGI werewolves, it just represents a basic misunderstanding of the material
I’m bummed about the Lone Ranger situation. It could have been cool to introduce a supernatural element. Werewolves would make a nifty explanation of the silver bullets. Who else is he gonna go up against? A greedy land baron? Or worse yet, Butch Cavendish? Do we really need another western revenge film? Yawn.
Why is a traditional western enemy a bad thing? Have you seen MASK OF ZORRO? It’s a traditional western revenge story done with class, and it’s rousing and joyous
Kate, glad to see you! And I couldn’t agree more on your comments above.
Yes, but we already have MASK OF ZORRO, don’t we? Do we need another one? Really?
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