Monopoly

[Crook]

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=26271

The Story Behind Ridley's Monopoly
Producer Frank Beddor tells all
Source: LA Times


The idea that Sir Ridley Scott is attached to a film based on the venerable boardgame Monopoly has been mystifying everybody for a couple of years now. There have been mad hints of family comedies and Blade Runner futuristic cities, but now, finally, the guy behind the initial pitch, producer Frank Beddor, has shed some light on the subject to the LA Times.

And it's really not what we imagined. (Actually, we're not sure what we imagined, but it wasn't this.) Beddor is the author of the Lewis Carroll-inpired Looking Glass Wars, and likens his Monopoly pitch to Alice in Wonderland.

"I took the approach of thinking of the main character falling down the rabbit hole into a place called Monopoly City," he says. The main character is envisaged as a dorky Manhattan real-estate agent who's also an obsessive Monopoly player. A magic chance card transports him to the city where Monopoly money is currency, and where the evil Parker Brothers (what, not the Waddingtons?) must be defeated.

"It tries to incorporate all the iconic imageries -- a sports car pulls up, there's someone on a horse, someone pushing a wheelbarrow," says Beddor, also mentioning recurring sight-gags with Uncle Pennybags (the guy on the box) showing up in different guises.

Kind of like a Jumanji or a Zathura then, and it's still immensely surprising that Scott is so enthusiastic about the project (he apparently shook Beddor's hand after hearing his pitch, and asked him what he needed to do to be part of it). We could just about see Scott coming up with some sort of Wall Street satire, but we'd never have pegged him as a director of family-oriented whimsy. The closest he's come before is the dark fairytale Legend or the romcom A Good Year, neither of which could be called "universally acclaimed".

But we're definitely intrigued, and with Pamela Pettner (Corpse Bride, Monster House, 9) writing the screenplay, Monopoly is developing quite a strong pedigree. We're a long way from the project having a start-date though, so what do you think? A definite go-project, or the jail of development hell?

Not gonna lie, the thought of Monopoly as a movie is really stupid to me. But you factor in Ridley Scott and the game being brought to literal life ala Jumanji...I'm actually very intrigued by this.

 

[dark_b]

WTF Ridley

 

[scifiwolf]

Hmmmm. There's got to be some really neat, original stuff going on in the movie (of which we're not aware) to get Ridley so interested. I think the basic idea is 'tarded, but I can see where this could turn out to be really good.

 

[Symbiotic]

It's a movie based on a board game after all, so that story sounds like a "fun" way to go with it.

 

[The Guard]

So a bit of Wonderland, a bit of Oz, etc? Playing up the mythic aspects of Monopoly with a vaguely Scrooge-like character?

That sounds like a fantastic approach.

 

[xwolverine2]

i think this sounds awesome and original...
i cant wait now

 

[GEO]

Never thought I'd say this, but this movie sounds good.

So much better than the Battleship game movie.

 

[matrix_ghost]

I'll admit that this definately is an original take on adapting the game and it could work out well.
Can't say the same about Ridley's Gladiator sequel storyline which , again is original , would also completely IMO mystify many of the fans of Gladiator.
I guarantee you that 90 % of all the people who saw gladiator will admit that the movie presents itself as a fictional tale but nonetheless one that is completely grounded in reality.

By suddenly adding elements like Russel Crowe's character being a warrior thru the ages ( it was something like gladiator , then a knight , then a soldier in one of the recent wars) just goes into the mystical realm which IMO completely nullifies the reality of Gladiator.

But anyway i'm going off topic. Hopefully Ridley can bring this to the theaters

 

[Spider-Who?]

I'll admit that this definately is an original take on adapting the game and it could work out well.
Can't say the same about Ridley's Gladiator sequel storyline which , again is original , would also completely IMO mystify many of the fans of Gladiator.
I guarantee you that 90 % of all the people who saw gladiator will admit that the movie presents itself as a fictional tale but nonetheless one that is completely grounded in reality.

By suddenly adding elements like Russel Crowe's character being a warrior thru the ages ( it was something like gladiator , then a knight , then a soldier in one of the recent wars) just goes into the mystical realm which IMO completely nullifies the reality of Gladiator.

But anyway i'm going off topic. Hopefully Ridley can bring this to the theaters

from what i've read, that gladiator script was really good, albeit different stylistically from the first.

Spoiler

the gods resurrect him, and he ends up becoming a "savior" for early christians

 

[matrix_ghost]

from what i've read, that gladiator script was really good, albeit different stylistically from the first.

Spoiler

the gods resurrect him, and he ends up becoming a "savior" for early christians

And then he ends being a warrior thru the ages until finally he's working at the pentagon.
Seriously WTF.

This was the only script review i could find
http://goneelsewhere.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/gladiator-2-script-review/

The What Does Work Part definately sums up my feelings. Again i do like this because it's so original but it messes up everything that gladiator established. This wouldn't be a case of the audience not accepting it because they're dumb...far from it.

This line sums it up perfect

This is not a reflection on the quality of the piece, but I’m not really interested in seeing a sequel to Gladiator featuring elements of mythology and the supernatural. They weren’t present in the first film and they simply feel out of place here.

 

[xwolverine2]

i hope this isnt too dark of a movie.. Monopoly should be clean and bright

 

[Spider-Who?]

And then he ends being a warrior thru the ages until finally he's working at the pentagon.
Seriously WTF.

This was the only script review i could find
http://goneelsewhere.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/gladiator-2-script-review/

The What Does Work Part definately sums up my feelings. Again i do like this because it's so original but it messes up everything that gladiator established. This wouldn't be a case of the audience not accepting it because they're dumb...far from it.

This line sums it up perfect

Like your link says,

I love it as a standalone screenplay but hate it as a sequel to Gladiator.

though, for me personally, "hate" would be too strong a word.

 

[mr. peasant]

i think this sounds awesome and original...
i cant wait now

I disagree; especially since the article itself likens the movie's concept to two previous movies; both of which features board games come to life. Personally, I'm somewhat disappointed (though no less interested) since they essentially took the easy way out (a la what Hollywood has planned for The Sims' movie). It could have easily been a lot more fantastic and outrageous.

By recognizing the board game as just a game in the movie, it sorts of reduces the immersiveness of it, I feel. It worked with Jumanji since the wild animals and jungles are so out of place in the middle of suburbia. For Monopoly, a city looks completely appropriate in a city, if you know what I mean.

 

[terry78]

I thought they were going to have it similar to that Rat Race movie, where the concept of Monopoly is not an actual game, but the game's universe put in real life. Have Pennybags be an actual coroporate magnate or something, and everyone else just be people trying to wheel and deal in the world.

 

[xwolverine2]

I disagree; especially since the article itself likens the movie's concept to two previous movies; both of which features board games come to life. Personally, I'm somewhat disappointed (though no less interested) since they essentially took the easy way out (a la what Hollywood has planned for The Sims' movie). It could have easily been a lot more fantastic and outrageous.

By recognizing the board game as just a game in the movie, it sorts of reduces the immersiveness of it, I feel. It worked with Jumanji since the wild animals and jungles are so out of place in the middle of suburbia. For Monopoly, a city looks completely appropriate in a city, if you know what I mean.

yeah but those two others were board games being brought to the real world... this guy is being brought into the game

and as far as monopoly world goes.. who knows what it'll look like. you're assuming it'll be a normal city lol

 

[Armored Avenger]

Ridley Scott's involvement has me interested in this, but I don't really see this film as a priority for Scott over the other large amount of films he is attached to direct at the moment. He seems much more enthusiastic about the Alien prequel and Forever War and I would much rather see him take on those films before Monopoly.

 

[Spider-Who?]

I disagree; especially since the article itself likens the movie's concept to two previous movies; both of which features board games come to life. Personally, I'm somewhat disappointed (though no less interested) since they essentially took the easy way out (a la what Hollywood has planned for The Sims' movie). It could have easily been a lot more fantastic and outrageous.

By recognizing the board game as just a game in the movie, it sorts of reduces the immersiveness of it, I feel. It worked with Jumanji since the wild animals and jungles are so out of place in the middle of suburbia. For Monopoly, a city looks completely appropriate in a city, if you know what I mean.

just wanted to point this out:

Jumanji was originally a kids book. It didn't turn into a board game until after the movie came out.

 

[mr. peasant]

yeah but those two others were board games being brought to the real world... this guy is being brought into the game

and as far as monopoly world goes.. who knows what it'll look like. you're assuming it'll be a normal city lol

All I'm saying is that I would have much preferred if they had just made the board game's world the 'real world' of the movie and foregone this fantasy world in a fantasy world bit (as a movie is already, by definition, a fantasy world). Besides, it means the movie likely ends when the main character getting out out of the game when we all know Monopoly is something that never ends.

just wanted to point this out:

Jumanji was originally a kids book. It didn't turn into a board game until after the movie came out.

Ah, my bad. All the same, I was trying to get across the notion that Zathura and Jumanji feel more like adventures due to their respective settings where as a city (even a zany one) doesn't quite have the same feel.


On a more positive note, is anyone really hyped at the potential prospect of seeing a guy win 'second place in a beauty contest' and collecting 10 dollars for it? Now that I think about it, are there any other classic Monopoly hilarities that would be really funny to see on-screen?

 

[xwolverine2]

free parking... as opposed to paid parking lol

 

[RaptorJesus]

College Humor's minesweeper trailer is a better idea than this

 

[:eek:]

While talking to Ridley Scott about his new action-adventure Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, the director told ComingSoon.net more about bringing the board game Monopoly to the big screen.

We asked Scott if the game would be referenced in the movie at all other than the title. "Yes, absolutely," he said. "It's a Hasbro film and they have the game. That was a tough thing to crack in terms of the screenplay because first off, many would want to integrate literally the shaking of the dice and the throwing of the dice into the board. I couldn't really get past that. I wanted to just make a movie about the idea of greed. I told them you know your game can turn your sweetest, dearest aunt into a demon - a nightmare of greed. So that's what we're going to do."

We also asked, given the current economic situation, whether the project will have a tougher look at the real estate market. "Completely. It's a blood bath. It was really bad behavior. It's [going to be] a comedy," Scott added.

The film is set up at Universal Pictures with a script by Pamela Pettler. A start date has not been announced.

Producer/author Frank Beddor previously revealed that the story he pitched for the movie featured a "comedic, lovable loser who lives in Manhattan and works at a real estate company and he's not very good at his job but he's great at playing Monopoly. And the world record for playing is 70 straight days – over 1,600 hours – and he wanted to try to convince his friends to help him break that world record. They think he is crazy. They kid him about this girl and they're playing the game and there's this big fight. And he's holding a Chance card and after they've left he says, 'Damn, I wanted to use that Chance card,' and he throws it down. He falls asleep and then he wakes up in the morning and he's holding the Chance card, and he thinks, 'That's odd.'

"He's all groggy and he goes down to buy some coffee and he reaches into his pocket and all he has is Monopoly money. All this Monopoly money pours out. He's confused and embarrassed and the girl reaches across the counter and says, 'That's OK.' And she gives him change in Monopoly money. He walks outside and he's in this very vibrant place, Monopoly City, and he's just come out of a Chance Shop. As it goes on, he takes on the evil Parker Brothers in the game of Monolopy."

We'll have to see how much of that story remains in Pettler's screenplay

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

I actually like that idea for Gladiator 2. It would be a cruicial disaster...but I'm sure I probably would have liked it. They've never done a real movie about the Roman gods...I mean the greek gods are basically the same...but I've never seen one set during the height of the Roman empire.

 

[:eek:]

Writers Hired for Ridley Scott's Monopoly

Source: Heat Vision
September 6, 2011



Heat Vision reports that Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have been hired to write the script for director Ridley Scott's big screen adaptation of Hasbro's Monopoly.

Alexander and Karaszewski's credits include Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt and the recent 1408.

While the project is reportedly no longer at Universal Pictures, producers Bennett Schneir and Brian Goldner are continuing to develop the movie. Scott is also producing.

Goldner previously said that they are "developing a great story. It's a very fun take. Ridley is still the perfect creative steward, because he creates these great, fictionalized worlds...Suffice it to say, it's a story about a family with a history, and we're projecting that into current times. But it's not 'Wall Street'. It's more about property ownership and of the play-pattern of the game."

Harbro is funding the development of the project

 

[Ultra Lantern]

I want to be the Top Hat!

This will be a good movie.

 

[Episode29]

God. This sounds tragic.