Who will be a winner at The Game of Life?
Hasbro, I guess, since they’re turning the old board game into a movie that’s now in development at Amazon MGM.
According to Deadline, the film has a script by writer Allan Loeb (Collateral Beauty, Here Comes the Boom), with Sean Anders (Spirited, Daddy’s Home) set as director. They don’t have much in the way of plot details, but they also note …
Insiders say Chernin and Hasbro had been trying for some time to figure out an idea for a Game of Life movie and, following a meeting Loeb, found the angle and quickly set up the package, tapping Anders to direct. Amazon moved fast to board the project and the film will now be a big priority at the studio as Loeb pens the script.
When I hear the Game of Life, all I can think of is this ancient television commercial, and its earworm jingle that I still occasionally find myself humming when the board game comes up in casual conversation…
READ MORE: The Best ’80s Happy Meal Toys
The Game of Life dates all the way back to the mid-1800s, when Milton Bradley first sold what he called The Checkered Game of Life. The current version offered in stores dates to the 1960s; players move along a winding path on a board pushing a little car they fill with pegs to signify the members of their family. I haven’t played in a couple decades; I assume you win by getting to the end of the board, or creating a tech company that buys up every other corporation on the planet, whichever comes first.
The toy company behind the Game of Life, Hasbro, has been aggressive in trying to turn their products into film and TV franchises in the last 20 years. They’re the owners of Transformers and G.I. Joe and Dungeons & Dragons, among other lucrative toy brands. They’ve already turned several board games into films, including Battleship and not one but two films based on Ouija. Now they’re going to give the Game of Life a try.
20 Inexplicable Toy Lines Based on Movies