You would possibly suppose, if you concentrate on it in any respect, that not every thing must be made right into a film. The folks at Bandai Namco and manufacturing firm Wayfarer Studios might not agree, although, as a result of in keeping with The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab) they’re getting collectively to make a live-action movie based mostly on Pac-Man.
How does one convey the two-dimensional, monochromatic waka waka waka tablet-chomper Pac-Man to a live-action movie, you surprise? Very fastidiously, I reply, as a result of THR does not say and I actually have no good theories of my very own. The report does reveal, nevertheless, that the movie is “based mostly on an authentic concept from Chuck Williams,” which is as near promising as any of the announcement will get: Williams was beforehand a producer on the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog live-action flick, which (after a short and completely essential delay (opens in new tab)) unexpectedly didn’t suck (opens in new tab).
In fact, this may not be Pac-Man’s first cross-media maneuver. The unique arcade stand-up, launched in 1980, was an enormous vital and industrial success, and sparked every kind of sequels, merchandise, and spin-offs, together with the 1982 hit single Pac-Man Fever (opens in new tab), which—I shit you not—made it into the highest ten of the Billboard Scorching 100 (opens in new tab) in March of that yr.
It additionally spawned a Hanna-Barbera cartoon that ran for 2 seasons over 1982-83, which may probably present some inspiration for the function movie: Pac-Man not as a weird videogame character, however an peculiar, common man—a working-class schmo with a spouse, a child, a home that sucks up each greenback he makes, and a long-running beef with a buncha clowns who stay up the highway.
I imply, that would work, proper?
Okay, no. No, that might not work. Hopefully Williams has higher concepts than this. There’s presently no trace of a launch goal, however we do guesstimate a 60% chance that Chris Pratt will star.
