The arcade classicSpace Invadersis getting ready to invade the big screen. Several years back, Warner Bros. purchased the movie rights to the popular video game and they’ve been trying to crack that egg for some time now. We haven’t heard any updates on the project in a few years, but it’s been quietly in development behind the scenes at the studio’s New Line Cinema division. Now, we have word that up-and-coming screenwriter Greg Russo has been tapped to pen the adaptation.
According to a new report, New Line has hiredGreg Russoto write theSpace Invadersscreenplay after they worked with him on another upcoming video game project they have coming down the pipeline,Mortal Kombat. Oddly, there are some similarities between these two adaptations, outside of the fact that they both started life as popular games first. We had been hearing reports of aMortal Kombatreboot for years, yet nothing ever actually materialized. However, once Russo was brought on board, things got moving in the right direction. Now the movie, which is being produced by James Wan, is actually set to begin filming later this year.
Even though the movie hasn’t actually been made yet, the studio clearly liked what Greg Russo was able to bring to the table. The question is, how is he going to take a game that simply involves shooting blocky space aliens and turn it into an actual story?Rampagecould serve as a template. Thatvideo game adaptationturned a game about monsters destroying cities with virtually no story into a relatively successful movie, with the help of Dwayne Johnson. So it’s not impossible. And a good old-fashioned alien invasion movie can certainly grab the attention of moviegoers.
Greg Russo, despite having a lack of work that is actually produced, is sort of becoming the go-to guy for video game adaptations. Aside fromMortal Kombat, he also penned a script for the plannedResident Evilreboot. He’s also been tapped to pen the latest version of theSaints Rowmovie, which F. Gary Gray (The Fate of the Furious) is set to direct. Outside of video game stuff, he’s been hired by Netflix to penDeath Note 2. So, needless to say, he’s a busy guy who has earned a lot of trust from some very big names in Hollywood.
Space Invaderswas originallyreleased as an arcade game in 1978. It’s generally considered to be amongst the most influential games ever created and has been given a number of sequels and spin-offs on various platforms over the years. Not much has been revealed about the movie up to this point. Only thatAkiva Goldsman, Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell are on board as producers. There is no word on how soon the studio could try and actually get it into production or who may be eyed to direct. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further details on the project are made available. This news was previously reported byDeadline.
