DreamWorks Animation has acquired an option on the movie rights to the Mice and Mystics board game. The development was first reported by Variety and then confirmed today on BoardGameGeek by Jerry Hawthorne, the game’s designer.

With an option, the studio holds the rights while it explores the concept and business case in greater depth.

Mice and Mystics is a story-focused adventure game about a group of loyal subjects who have been turned in to mice and are now trying to warn the King about the evil Vanestra.

According to Hawthorne, the movie project was instigated 4 years ago by director Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D, The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension), who was at the time playing the game with his 6 year old son.

• Comments Off on Mice and Mystics Movie Rights Optioned by DreamWorks Animation

Board game nights are set to get the studio big screen treatment in a murder-mystery comedy appropriately titled, Game Night. No release date has been scheduled for the movie from New Line Cinema. However, it’s said to follow a group of couples gathering for a regular game night when something goes horribly wrong. Signed on to star so far are Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman.

• Comments Off on Game Night on the Big Screen

Ready for a board game origin story on the big screen? Not one about a plucky inventor. Instead, Ouija: Origin of Evil tells a tale of 1965 Los Angeles and how “a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home.” In theaters October 21st.

Recently released on Netflix is The Dwarvenaut, a documentary about the founder of Dwarven Forge and the company’s Kickstarter campaign.

Disney’s Queen of Katwe, based on the true story of Ugandan Chess player Phiona Mutesi, is in theaters now.

It appears that the Jumanji remake replaces the board game with a video game. On the other hand, star Dwayne Johnson claims it’s not a remake but rather a sequel.

A new Clue movie is in the works, being developed by 21st Century Fox. Unlike the 1980s Clue, this one will be a “worldwide mystery” action-adventure story.

• Comments Off on Screen Games

Based on the true story of Phiona Mutesi, who after having dropped out of school at age 9, made her way from the slums of Kampala, Uganda to international Chess prominence. In theaters September 23rd.

• Comments Off on Queen of Katwe, A Disney Inspirational Chess Movie

The classic social deduction game known as Werewolf or Mafia has been adapted to the big screen and will premier November 7th at the American Film Market in Santa Monica. Produced in Russia with a budget of $10-25 million, the movie, simply titled Mafia, gives the game a science-fiction treatment reminiscent of The Running Man.

Distant future. In need of a new kind of entertainment society created mafia, a live action game that took the world by storm and became the most popular TV-show.

Eleven participants, each of them has his own reasons to try his luck in this game of love, lust, fear anger and death. The cold-blooded audience craves for new emotions and challenges on the screen. In front of the world a game where winner takes all and losers die commences. Who will be able to fight their fear and come out victorious this time?

[via /Film]

• Comments Off on Movie Version of Werewolf (A.K.A. Mafia) Premiers in November

A sequel to last year’s Ouija movie is already in the works. As the last one grossed over $100 million on a $5 million budget, the next one’s following a similar horror formula.

Ouija 2 is scheduled for release in October 2016 with Jeff Howard directing and Annalist Basso starring.

[via Hollywood Reporter]

• Comments Off on Ouija Sequel

A planned Monopoly movie is a story Purple Pawn’s been covering for more than 7 years. Hasbro first signed with Universal Pictures, who brought on Ridley Scott to direct. Eventually the project moved on to Emmett/Furla Oasis Films. Now we learn from Hasbro that Monopoly will be produced jointly with Lionsgate.

In keeping with a game that has brought so many hours of joy to so many for so long, MONOPOLY will be a film for all ages, visually sumptuous, heartwarming, and full of action and adventure. The story centers on a boy from Baltic Avenue who uses both Chance and Community in a quest to make his fortune, taking him on a fun, adventure-filled journey. It’s about making your own luck, what makes you truly rich and, of course, avoiding Jail time!

To write the screenplay for this brilliant play on words, Hasbro and Lionsgate have recruited Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca, The Terminal).

• Comments Off on Is the Third Time the Charm for a Monopoly Movie?

Hitting movie theaters in September is “Pawn Sacrifice“, a biographical drama about Bobby Fischer, including his legendary World Championship match with Boris Spassky. Tobey Maguire stars as Fischer. And in the role of Spassky is Liev Schreiber.

• Comments Off on “Pawn Sacrifice” Trailer—The Story of Chess Legend Bobby Fischer

The movie industry continues to dig for stories based on preexisting franchises in an effort to capitalize on fandom. The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that Lionsgate has optioned the movie rights for the sci-fi strategy board game Dust from Fantasy Flight Games.

The steampunk-themed game is set in an alternate universe where World War II never ended. Players spend production points to buy factories and invest in research and development. The goal is to have the most victory points by building strong armies and invading other player’s territories. Victory points are awarded for power sources, capitals, and majorities that a player controls. The first player to reach a set number of victory points wins the game.

Rawson Marshall Thurber is attached to direct the film. His credits include “We’re the Millers” and “Dodgeball.” Lego film franchise producer Dan Lin is also on board to produce Dust.

The Hollywood reporter notes that Thurber has “geek cred.” His name is also attached to an adaptation of two popular comic books, “Elfquest” and “The Umbrella Academy.”

“It’s a cool spin on a genre that I’ve loved for a long time and it opens up narrative avenues that are just thrilling,” Thurber told the Hollywood Reporter. “It’s all my 9-year-old fantasies wrapped in one thing, a World War II mashup.”

• Comments Off on Steampunk Strategy Game ‘Dust’ Headed to the Silver Screen

The producer of the upcoming Monopoly movie recently suggested that the film would be similar to Goonies. In an interview with Collider, Randall Emmett described Monopoly as a “family adventure film” with a group of younger characters following a treasure map. In the interview, Emmett said that filming would begin this summer but refused to divulge information on casting but said that such details would be formally announced next month.

The same company, Emmett/Furla Oasis Films, as is producing Monopoly also has the film rights to Hungry Hungry Hippos.

• Comments Off on New Monopoly Movie Compared to Goonies