Earlier this week, an entertainment blog leaked the (faintly distressing) rumor that a film studio was developing a feature length adaptation of the popular Facebook game, Mafia Wars. The Hollywood Reporter shot down the rumor, but the premise of a movie based on a Facebook game, of all things, raises several questions. Have movie studios really run out of 80’s B-movies to reboot, or Asian horror-thrillers to remake? Forget original ideas, surely there must still be a comic book that hasn’t gone through the ravaging process of film adaptation decay?
The idea of making a movie based on an interactive game, played through a social networking website, while absurd, is not completely outside the realm of possibility. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that a game gets the film treatment. Hollywood has churned out movies based on 1) a “whodunit” mystery board game (Clue), 2) a line of dolls (Bratz), 3) a PC/console adventure game franchise (Prince of Persia), and 4) a line of action figures (GI Joe). In fact, the film adaptation of a naval strategy-themed guessing game (Battleship) is currently in pre-production.
A Mafia Wars-inspired crime thriller, in the vein of The Godfather and Goodfellas, certainly wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
A Farmville-inspired movie, on the other hand, is a different matter altogether.
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