NEW: Hasbro’s Ouija Board Movie Dead at Universal?
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
The Hollywood rumor mill is churning this morning with news that Hasbro's next boardgame-inspired film with Universal Pictures may be D-E-A-D.
Vulture, the arts and culture blog of New York Magazine, has reported that Ouija, an adaptation of the iconic magical gameboard that was to be produced by Michael Bay and directed by McG, has been "put in turnaround."
N-O D-E-A-L?...
According to Vulture's Claude Brodesser-Akner, Ouija was part of a major 2008 picture development deal between Hasbro and Universal Pictures that included a variety of well-recognized Hasbro and Milton Bradley games including Candy Land, Stretch Armstrong, Battleship, and Ouija. Most recently, writes Brodesser-Akner, screenwriter Simon Kinberg (Sherlock Holmes) had passed on the Ouija script under the supervision of McG, who "envisioned it as a big-budget Jumanji-like family fantasy," (based on the book by Providence's own Chris Van Allsburg). "But apparently to no avail," he writes.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFurther, Vulture reports that Bay and McG are pursuing other studios to look for turnaround possiblities. But for now, it looks as though Universal, already deeply invested in its high-ticket backing of another Hasbro film, Battleship, is standing firm.
For more on the film's future, check your own Ouija board or go here.
