EXCLUSIVE: New Line has enlisted screenwriters Ben Zazove and Evan Turner to pen a Space Invaders movie, inspired by the classic Taito arcade game, Deadline has learned.
No word yet on specifics, as to the story they’re spinning here. Weed Road Pictures’ Akiva Goldsman will produce alongside Safehouse Pictures partners Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell, with Greg Lessans & Rachel Wizenberg overseeing for Weed Road, and Matt Schwartz overseeing for Safehouse Pictures.
One of history’s most iconic arcade games, and one of the pioneering titles in the shoot ’em up gaming genre, Space Invaders tasks players with defending Earth from an alien invasion, shooting down waves of invaders moving across the screen before they reach the ground. Tomohiro Nishikado developed the title, released by Taito in 1978.
Space Invaders‘ commercial success has been described as the catalyst for the golden age of arcade gaming in the late ’70s and early ’80s. After becoming a cultural phenomenon, it spawned numerous sequels, remakes, and adaptations across arcades and home consoles.
Writers Zazove and Turner are behind Officer Exchange, an action-comedy in development at Amazon MGM Studios, with The Safran Company producing and John Cena attached to star. Their previous film, The Out-Laws — an action comedy starring Adam Devine, Pierce Brosnan, and Ellen Barkin — debuted at #1 on Netflix. Also known for his work on Sherlock Gnomes, Zazove is repped by Verve, Kaplan/Perrone and attorneys Jeff Frankel and Farhad Amid. Turner is likewise repped by Verve and Kaplan/Perrone but has Dave Feldman as his attorney.
Known for films like Without Remorse, Hancock, I Am Legend and Constantine, Weed Road recently announced the M3GAN franchise’s Gerard Johnstone as the director for their live-action Monster High movie, based on the Mattel dolls. They’re in post alongside Walden Media on The Billion Dollar Spy, a Cold War thriller starring Russell Crowe, and count a Constantine sequel among their other upcoming projects.
Coming off the Jack Quaid actioner Novocaine, centered on a man incapable of feeling physical pain, Safehouse Pictures has most recently announced projects like a feature adaptation of the Jeremy Logan novel series at Amazon MGM Studios, the Paramount comedy Guys with No Friends, and the 20 actioner Test Drive based on a spec from Matt Venne.
