Retro Video Game Posters for 'Pixels' features Pac-Man and Donkey Kong

Pixels may end up another piece of Adam Sandler crap, but the posters for the video game comedy are pretty cool.  The film stars Sandler, Kevin James, Josh Gad, Peter Dinklage, and Michelle Monaghan as video game experts called in to defend the planet from alien invaders in the form of 1980s video game characters. And these new one-sheets reflect some of the forms the extratterestrials will take; from Donkey Kong to Pac-Man to (naturally) Space Invaders.

Directed by Chris Columbus, Pixels will eat up your quarters on July 24th 2015.

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Crazy Taxi: The Movie? SEGA to Adapt its Video Games into Feature Films and Series

How is it we don't have an Alex Kidd in Miracle World movie yet? It's a complete travesty. My favorite video game console of all-time is the Sega Dremcast, followed by the Sega Genesis and the Sega Master System. Sensing a pattern here? Sega, always runner-up behind Nintendo back in the day, has a large library of iconic video games that have yet to get their due in other forms of media, but that's all about to change.

Variety reports Sega is planning to adapt a number of their titles into live-action and animated feature films, TV series, and streaming digital content. While you won't see Sega's former mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, on their list of upcoming projects, the story says Altered Beast, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Rise of Nightmares and Crazy Taxi are being planned as animated and live-action spinoffs. They'll also be looking to adapt fighting game Virtua Fighter side-scrolling adventure, Golden Axe.

Sega has hired Evan Cholfin to oversee these efforts, but as of now it's unclear what form each project will take or when production could begin on any of them. Hopefully we'll get an epic Phantasy Star live-action movie out of all this? Fingers crossed.

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Exhume E.T. with 'Atari: Game Over'

Every industry has it legends, it's own mythology really. There is no more infamous legend in the world of video games than the release of E.T. for the Atari 2600. The movie tie-in was a rushed job as they were trying to take advantage of the Christmas 1982 season, the result was a game that is widely known as the worst video game of all time. The dismal sales and high returns almost directly resulted in a slump in the video game industry that would almost kill the market, until a pair of plumbing brothers showed up on Nintendo in 1985. The myth comes in that the unsold and returned E.T. cartridges, reports put the number in the millions, were buried in a landfill at Alamogordo, NM (just near the first Atomic bomb testing sites).

The film, a documentary about the fall wrapped around a dig to find the cartridges, seems to be the most interesting video game documentary since The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, while there haven't been a slew of docs in this category I loved King of Kong and will undoubtedly dig this one as well.

Atari: Game Over comes to XBox this Fall. 

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First Look at Adam Sandler and Peter Dinklage in 'Pixels'; 'Space Invaders' Movie On the Way

With the superhero market all but cornered by Marvel and Warner Bros., studios looking for the next big thing have begun turning their attention to video game movies. Uncharted, Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear Solid, and Splinter Cell are just a few of the modern console games headed to theaters with big league talent attached. But in the upcoming Adam Sandler comedy, Pixels, and the long-developing Space Invaders film, the plan is to hit a high score indulging in the coin-operated glory of the '80s.

EW has the first photo of Sandler, Michelle Monaghan, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage in Pixels, which is based on the awesome short film by Patrick Jean about aliens who attack the earth in the guise of  8-bit video game characters.  Sandler plays a former video game champion called upon by the President (Kevin James) to save the world. Chris Columbus is directing for release on May 15th 2015.

One of the many digital aliens you'll find in Pixels will be based on the classic game, Space Invaders, which has had a film in the works for years. Well now Warner Bros. has picked up the rights and Akiva Goldsman (Winter's Tale, The Da Vinci Code) is on board to produce. Other than Pac-Man, Space Invaders is probably the most recognizable of the old school games. Chances are it will look more like Battleship than Pixels, though. We'll see. [TheWrap]

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Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to Direct 'Console Wars' Based on Nintendo vs. Sega Rivalry

In the world of comic books, fans tend to be either on the side of Marvel or DC, and the "war" between those two rival companies is the stuff of legend. It's the same way for the hardcore video game player, and back in the '90s there was no bigger split than the one between Sega and Nintendo. Nintendo had the NES, Sega had the Master System...Nintendo had Super NES, Sega had the Genesis...Nintendo had the N64. Sega had the (awesome) Dreamcast. The fight to win over the hearts and dollars of console gamers was brutal, and now that story is being brought to the big screen courtesy of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

Rogen and Goldberg will write and direct Console Wars, based on the upcoming book by Blake J. Harris that chronicles how Sega came out of nowhere to challenge the mighty Nintendo juggernaut. Scott Rudin is producing, and he seems to be all about the tech biz of late, having produced The Social Network and HBO's upcoming series, Silicon Valley. Rogen and Goldberg grew up at the time the console wars were taking place, and obviously they have the right geek mindset for something like this, which is why they wrote the book foreword. The only question is how this will fit into their schedule now that they'll be working on the Preacher TV series.

Here's the full book synopsis for Console Wars:

Following the success of The Accidental Billionaires and Moneyball comes Console Wars—a mesmerizing, behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry.

In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But that would all change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a man who knew nothing about videogames and everything about fighting uphill battles. His unconventional tactics, combined with the blood, sweat and bold ideas of his renegade employees, transformed Sega and eventually led to a ruthless David-and-Goliath showdown with rival Nintendo.

The battle was vicious, relentless, and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan.

Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, Console Wars is the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It’s the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry.

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Paul W. S. Anderson to direct Capcom's 'Monster Hunter'?

Hard to believe that this weekend's Resident Evil: Retribution will mark the fifth of Paul W. S. Anderson's flicks, and a decade since they began. A spinoff of Capcom's wildly popular, long-running horror video game series, I think people looked at the movies initially as something that would fade away quietly like all other such adaptations had done. Obviously that didn't happen, and while it can be argued just how much the RE movies make any sense at this point, they are without a doubt the most successful video game adaptations ever, not particularly expensive to produce and a minimum $150M box office a lock.

With series star and Anderson's leggy wife Milla Jojovich revealing that the franchise would end with the sixth film, the search is on for something equally lucrative to take its place. In a conversation with Japanese site, Cinema Today(translated via Google), Anderson revealed he wants to stick with Capcom and bring their Monster Hunter games to the big screen. The company has justifiably put all their faith in Anderson to do pretty much whatever he wants, and the direct admitted to falling in love with the action RPG games, and is now in the planning stages of development.

Monster Hunter began on the PS2 back in 2004, and as the title suggests it follows a newbie hunter who must complete quests given to him by a village elder. These tasks mainly include tracking and hunting specific creatures, with the goal sometimes to kill and other times just to capture. The game has been spun into a media empire all its own, with numerous sequels, anime films and manga.

Of course this sounds like something that could easily be built for Jojovich to take over, so we can see her shoot an arrow through a brontosaurus' neck in slow-motion ad nauseum. No word on when this could start, but I'm guessing we'll hear more about it soon.

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Scott Waugh to direct video game adaptation, 'Hawken'

Few movies I saw this year missed the mark more than the Navy Seal flick, Act of Valor. While not an awful film, it was crushed under the weight of its own self-importance, proclaiming quite loudly how "outside the Hollywood system" it was. It then proceeded to be a totally Hollywood film, and not a particularly good one at that.  But if arrogance was enough to derail a career, there would be a lot fewer directors around, and Act of Valor proved to be a big hit for something that started out as as military recruitment vid. For co-director Scott Waugh, it's done well enough to land him a couple of high profile projects already.

Next up for him is a live-action adaptation of Hawken, based on an upcoming first-person shooter video game that is poised to hit multiple mobile platforms. Not only will the free-to-play game be available on Iphone and Android, but a graphic novel is in the works, along with a web series. It was while talking about the latter that word slipped out over the weekend at Comic-Con. Waugh and his Bandito Brothers team will be producing. Warner Brothers signed on to make the film after it stirred up quite a buzz at E3 for its mech-based gameplay set in a post-apocalyptic future.

Waugh is already set for another video game adaptation, as he's currently in talks to direct Need for Speed for Dreamworks.  Hawken already has over 300,000 registered users and is primed for release on December 12th.

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Josh Trank to direct 'Shadow of the Colossus'; Scott Waugh races to 'Need for Speed'

Ahh, video game movies. It's funny to think about, but video game movies are right now where comic book movies used to be twenty or thirty years ago. It may be hard to fathom now, but there was a time when comic book films were the Hollywood dregs, back when the technology simply wasn't there to make for a quality adaptation. That all changed with the Blade films, of course, but the video game world is still looking for their Jackie Robinson to break through. It's kind of ironic, since in just about every way that matters, video games are the size and cost of the biggest Hollywood productions.

We could be on the verge of a sea change, however, as two big names are coming aboard for a couple of promising video game films. Deadline reports that the red hot Josh Trank, still riding high after Chronicle proved to be a monster hit, is set to direct Shadow of the Colossus. We first learned of Sony's plans to adapt their hit 2005 adventure game back in 2009, but it's been totally quiet since then. The story follows a warrior named Wander who must defeat 16 massive creatures in order to restore a girl's life. Justin Marks had been tapped to pen the script, but it appears nobody is aboard anymore.

Next up is Need for Speed, the Electronic Arts racing sim which Dreamworks recently announced plans to bring to the silver screen. Scott Waugh, who just scored a surprising hit with Act of Valor, is in talks to direct, based on a story by George and John Gatins(Real Steel). The most successful racing video game ever, there have been sixteen games released up to this point. The hope is to turn this into a Fast and Furious sized franchise. [Variety]

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The trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man movie tie-in video game

At the VGA Awards a trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man video game was unveiled. With a script by Seamus Kevin Fahey(Battlestar Galactica), the game is a direct tie-in and an epilogue to the upcoming film directed by Marc Webb(500 Days of Summer) and starring Andrew Garfield. The game will be released on July 3rd(pre-order yours here), but check out the trailer below. Looks kinda cool...

An all-new Spider-Man is poised to bring the action back to New York City as Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc., and Marvel Entertainment, LLC announce The Amazing Spider-Man™ video game, planned to launch summer 2012 tied to Sony Pictures Entertainment's upcoming feature film of the same name. Created as an epilogue story occurring entirely after the events of the movie, the game features the return of free-roaming web-slinging all over the city and evolutionary improvements to navigation and combat, as the newly anointed Spider-Man is plunged into an all-new storyline charged with protecting Manhattan from a variety of criminals.


The Amazing Spider-Man is in development at veteran game studio Beenox, and features an original narrative crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica) that continues young Peter Parker's adventures following the events of the new film. Using the game's new Web Rush mechanic allows players to pull off a vast array of moves never before possible. With a story that takes players through many areas all over (and under) Manhattan, fans will feel what it's truly like to be a Super Hero, as they experience the cinematic adrenaline rush of web-swinging through the city and fighting crime using Spider-Man's spectacular acrobatic moves and attacks.

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Neil Burger talks Uncharted: Drake's Fortune; says he's "beginning from scratch"

When Neil Burger(The Illusionist) took over for David O. Russell as director of video game adaptation Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, one of two things were assumed:

1. That this meant Mark Wahlberg would also depart, since his running buddy was no longer involved.

2. That everything O. Russell planned storywise, which meant expanding and focusing on the Drake family of treasure seekers, would be out the window.

Updating fans of the blockbuster video game of the film's status with Comingsoon, Burger pretty much confirmed both of those things have indeed happened. 

Burger: "Mainly we're beginning from scratch and going back to the videogame," .It's really one of the most cinematic videogames, and one that has really developed characters. So, you know, there's a lot of cool, really intense things that, if they work for the film's story, I want to use them."

The site also noted that Burger hasn't even looked at O. Russell's plans for the adventure project. He would go on to compare the property to The Bourne Identity, in that it's not going to be your typical treasure hunting film, in the same way Bourne wasn't your typical Cold War spy film. I can get down with that.


But what about Nathan Fillion? The Serenity star has been the desired face of the lead character ever since the film was first announce, and when Wahlberg was on board cried like a bunch of schoolgirls with skinned knees about it. Well, that's how I took their response, anyway...


Burger: "I think he's a good actor," Burger adds, "[But] I think there's a lot of really good actors who don't even look like [Nathan Drake] who could play it. Where we are right now is that we're literally starting from scratch on the screenplay, and I think that once we finish it, then we'll go to actors and see who's available and who's right for the parts. Whenever that happens."

Sounds like there's still a lot of work left to be done, but it doesn't appear as if Wahlberg is in the picture anymore. I don't think Fillion fanatics should be holding their breaths either. Although Drake's Fortune has a rather large and vocal fanbase, it's going to take a proven commodity to sell this beyond the station of other video game adaptations. Without one, you'll be seeing Drake's Fortune in the $5 bin next to copies of Tekken and DOA: Dead or Alive. (which I love, not gonna lie).

So would make for the best Nathan Drake? Having not ever played the game, I can't really say.

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Christopher Nolan planning Inception video game; currently scripting Batman 3

Italy is just now getting their chance to see Inception, the hands down best film of the year. That's right. It is.  Will be in December, too. Anyway, that's not the important bit. What's interesting is that while attending a press event for the film, Nolan let slip a couple of nuggets about both Inception and Batman 3.

Nolan confirmed that he is in the writing stage for Batman 3, which already has a planned release date of July 20, 2012 even though Warner Brothers hasn't officially given it the thumbs up.

"They haven't told me they don't want to do it, so I'm hopeful," he joked.

What else? Why, there's the absolutely perfect sounding video game venture. No, not for Batman. Batman video games are a dime a dozen. He's talkin' about Inception. Wowsers.

"one thing we are looking at doing is developing a video game based on the world of the film, which has all kinds of ideas that you can't fit into a feature film."
"That's something we've been talking about and are looking at doing long-term, in a couple of years."

Video games based on movies(and vice-versa) have historically been terrible wastes of time and money. Anybody want to bet that Inception might be the exception to the rule?

You can read the rest of Variety's coverage of this story here.

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