The trend of using video games as the foundational basis for big-budget movies continues unabated. In recent years, we've seen films inspired by Mario, Monster Hunter, Resident Evil and even Tetris, and now it's the turn of Taito's iconic 1978 shmup, Space Invaders.
According to Deadline, New Line Cinema has hired screenwriters Ben Zazove and Evan Turner to pen the script. Weed Road Pictures’ Akiva Goldsman is producing, alongside Joby Harold and Tory Tunnell from Safehouse Pictures.
Created by Tomohiro Nishikado, Space Invaders is one of the arcade titles credited with kickstarting the coin-op revolution in the late '70s and early '80s. It would establish Taito as one of the market's leading creative forces, and has inspired a series of sequels and spin-offs in the decades since.
This isn't the first time Space Invaders has been portrayed on the big screen; the critically panned 2015 Adam Sandler comedy Pixels also features the game, alongside the likes of Donkey Kong, Galaga and Arkanoid.
Zazove and Turner penned Netflix's The Out-Laws – starring Adam Devine, Pierce Brosnan, and Ellen Barkin – and are currently working on the action-comedy Officer Exchange for Amazon MGM Studios.