Following the success of Barbie, which is expected to pass $1 billion at the box-office over the next few days, toy retailers have been eyeing up their products to see which ones would make for a decent big screen adaptation. Well, now, Hasbro is following in Mattel's footsteps and making a Monopoly movie – and we're already desperate to know what that's going to look like.
Per Variety, which published an article about how Lionsgate has just bought eOne from Hasbro for $500 million, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks confirmed that it was collaborating with the studio for the new flick.
"Entertainment remains a priority for Hasbro. Hasbro will continue to develop and produce entertainment based on the rich vault of Hasbro-owned brands," he said. "We will also bring to life new original ideas designed to fuel all areas of Hasbro's blueprint including toys, publishing, gaming, licensed consumer products, and location-based entertainment.
"As part of the sale, we expect to move to an asset-lite model for future live action entertainment, relying on licensing and partnerships with select co-productions."
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, starring Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, and Chris Pine, is technically based on a Hasbro product, thanks to the company's purchase of game publisher Wizards of the Coast in 1999. It received overwhelming positive reviews and calls from fans for a sequel but given the fantasy role-playing aspect of the source material, it's innately more cinematic than Monopoly.
