IGN wrote: Joust Movie Deal Announced
Read that as many times as you want. It's still true.
by Ryan Geddes
August 27, 2007 - A Hollywood production company is planning a big-budget film version of the classic Midway arcade game Joust, according to a report Monday on GameDaily.com.
Will the film include giant flapping flightless birds and pterodactyls? The producers aren't saying, but apparently the screenwriter's vision for the film includes a futuristic Las Vegas suspended in the sky.
Ah, memories.
In the GameDaily article, CP Productions (headed by the producers of the films Area 51, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Blackout) said its deal with Midway could also result in a new Joust videogame franchise based on the film. And CP has already commissioned graphic novelist Steven Elliot Altman (who has worked with DC Comics and Dark Horse Comics) to create a Joust comic based on the upcoming film's script, written by Marc Gottlieb.
Although the arcade version of Joust was released in 1982 (putting even the youngest true old-school Jousters in their mid-30s today), CP told GameDaily its upcoming film is aimed at the under-25 set.
The Joust movie is scheduled to be completed in June 2008 and flap into theatres soon after.
It's mind-boggling. Don't get me wrong, I love Joust, but really.
Come on.
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I don't really see the problem here. Joust doesn't have much of a story, but I'm sure you can wring a popcorn flick out of the gameplay: it's basically flying knights doing battle over a pit of lava while dodging trolls and pterodactyls. As long as they don't mention the ostrich, it might work.
This is awesome. Joust was so cool. Maybe the film will look something like the game Flying Heros, which I used to play a lot vs my housemates when at university.
Bounty wrote:I don't really see the problem here. Joust doesn't have much of a story, but I'm sure you can wring a popcorn flick out of the gameplay: it's basically flying knights doing battle over a pit of lava while dodging trolls and pterodactyls. As long as they don't mention the ostrich, it might work.
That's true but the question is still: Why?
I mean, ok, flying anything's battling over a pit of lava dodging monsters sounds like a basic idea for a popcorn flick. But then why buy the rights to fucking Joust in particular? How many extra people will go see this movie because it's based on a Midway arcade game from 1982? Ten?
The amount of extra people who would see this movie because it has the Joust license shouldn't recoup the cost of buying the rights to it in the first place, even if it only cost them a thousand bucks.
Masami von Weizegger wrote:The amount of extra people who would see this movie because it has the Joust license shouldn't recoup the cost of buying the rights to it in the first place, even if it only cost them a thousand bucks.
The answer is probably internal politics. The execs backing the film can tell the board of directors 'yes, we have a hot license based on a really popular video game'. Assuming they can keep a straight face, this will be more convincing than 'we want to make a fantasy film about knights flying around on giant birds' - remember that the people who ultimately control the purse strings will have little to no appreciation of what video game culture is like, they just know they're popular.
Or they're banking on a chain reaction: they draw attention to the new game by tying it into the classic Joust, then use the new game to draw attention to the movie. The article did mention a new Joust franchise, after all.
Bounty wrote:I don't really see the problem here. Joust doesn't have much of a story, but I'm sure you can wring a popcorn flick out of the gameplay: it's basically flying knights doing battle over a pit of lava while dodging trolls and pterodactyls. As long as they don't mention the ostrich, it might work.
Why not mention the ostriches? That's the whole reason anyone would play Joust in the first place :p.
As long as this brings the original Joust to the Wii Virtual Console I fully support this project .
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MRDOD wrote:The only problem I can see with a joust movie is that Ostriches are flightless birds.
Sure it was funny in-game, but in a movie?
I have it on good authority that they will be replaced by giant, ill-tempered ducks.
...named "Howard"?
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Masami von Weizegger wrote:
The amount of extra people who would see this movie because it has the Joust license shouldn't recoup the cost of buying the rights to it in the first place, even if it only cost them a thousand bucks.
Ah, but you're wrong. We wouldn't have this thread if they hadn't bought the license.
I would have never heard of this movie if it weren't for the fact that they're using the license. It's a great way to draw attention.
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