Thanks, Sonic the Hedgehog! Ever since Sega’s Blue Blur made boatloads of cash at the box office, studios have been mining video game properties for silver screen adaptations. Word of a live-action Pac-Man movie hit the internet earlier this week, but I wanted to ensure we had this momentous news covered. Don’t threaten me with a good time, Wayfarer Studios and Bandai Namco Entertainment!
Pac-Man was released by the Japanese video game company Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. in 1980, one year before I was born! Pac-Man is simple in execution and revolves around a circular yellow protagonist with a voracious appetite. While navigating a series of intricate mazes, Pac-Man gobbles pellets of varying power and the occasional ghost. Aside from appearing in many video game titles, Pac-Man starred in a Saturday Morning cartoon series from Hanna-Barbera called Pac-Man, which aired on ABC from 1982-1983. He also starred in the CGI animated series Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, which aired on Disney XD in 2013.
The Pac-Man movie hails from an original concept by Chuck Williams (Sonic the Hedgehog), who will produce with Tim Kwok through Lightbeam Entertainment. Justin Baldoni, Manu Gargi, and Andrew Calof also produce for Wayfarer Studios.
If you need to point the finger at who’s to blame for a Pac-Man movie being in development, Sonic the Hedgehog is an excellent place to start. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog has been a runaway success for the studio, and now everyone is looking for the next video game-related cash cow to prey upon parents’ wallets worldwide. Nintendo also has a CGI-animated Super Mario Bros. movie in the works with Illumination. The video game adaptation boom will soon be upon us, ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready?
What do you think about Wayfarer and Bandai Namco developing a live-action Pac-Man movie? What do you think the plot will be? Will the military try to harness the bottomless power of Pac-Man’s appetite? Is Chris Pratt going to voice the title character? Who will play Ms. Pac-Man? Let’s hear your predictions in the comments.