Board games into movies?

Far be it from Hollywood to leave any stone unturned in searching for every conceivable movie premise — and that includes board games. Who can forget the limp 1985 movie Clue adapted from the Parker Bros. board game? Now comes word that Hasbro has joined forces with director Michael Bay to transform the Ouija board into a movie. And some people, like the folks at firstshowing.net are not leaping with joy about it:

I can understand Transformers. And I can understand G.I. Joe. But Hasbro might just be getting out of control with this latest news. Apparently Michael Bay’s production company, Platinum Dunes, is set to make a movie based on the spooky Ouija board game. WTF? Although I suppose some see this as a positive, the film will not take on a “Jumanji-like approach.” Obviously, that makes sense considering Platinum Dunes’ track record in horror remakes (e.g. Amityville Horror, The Hitcher, Friday the 13th); but I have to admit, Jumanji wasn’t half-bad, so taking it in that direction might be more encouraging. Has Habro gone too far this time with a Ouija board movie?!

What next: Pet Rock — The Movie? Reminds me that the first writing gig Burg & Myers had was to adapt Bazooka Joe — yes, that’s right, bubble gum comic characters — into a movie. And the kicker was, we turned in the script only to discover the production company had never finalized rights to the characters. Fortunately, we got paid. And we got a huge container of Bazooka Joe bubble gum to boot!

That little misstep doesn’t seem to have hurt Bazooka Joe any as this website will attest.