When I first heard there was going to be a Monopoly movie, all I could do was groan. All these toys and old cartoons being made into movies instead of actually using some creativity and coming up with something new. But I’ve got to say, now that I’ve read a little bit about the concept I’m actually sort of excited for it. Of all the directors in the world, Ridley Scott (of “Gladiator” fame) is attached to it. Seems like a strange guy for the job, but apparently he was a huge fan as a kid. I was sort of worried it would turn into some epically bloody movie with the man on the horse impaling someone on the battleship. But it seems like he’s going to tone down his usual blood and gore. They’re using the concept of the game as a jumping off point, and it sounds doable.

But Frank Beddor, a pivotal figure in the project’s odyssey, says doubters should remember that a film’s core concept is merely a starting place, not the whole ride. “Everybody reacted the same way when they heard that there was going to be a ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie — and I did too.”

Beddor said his inspiration came from Carroll and the “Looking Glass Wars” experience: “They have this big world and this game — it’s the most famous board game in the world — and it just really came out of the whole ‘Alice’ thing. I took the approach of thinking of the main character falling down a rabbit hole and into a real place called Monopoly City … It was the re-engineering of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ that got me thinking and then with this it came around full circle and I was able to utilize that. That’s a big world. They were searching for that.”

“I created a comedic, lovable loser who lives in Manhattan and works at a real estate company and he’s not very good at his job but he’s great at playing Monopoly. And the world record for playing is 70 straight days – over 1,600 hours – and he wanted to try to convince his friends to help him break that world record. They think he is crazy. They kid him about this girl and they’re playing the game and there’s this big fight. And he’s holding a Chance card and after they’ve left he says, ‘Damn, I wanted to use that Chance card,’ and he throws it down. He falls asleep and then he wakes up in the morning and he’s holding the Chance card, and he thinks, ‘That’s odd.’”

Yes, this is all going where you think it is. Beddor continued:

“He’s all groggy and he goes down to buy some coffee and he reaches into his pocket and all he has is Monopoly money. All this Monopoly money pours out. He’s confused and embarrassed and the girl reaches across the counter and says, ‘That’s OK.’ And she gives him change in Monopoly money. He walks outside and he’s in this very vibrant place, Monopoly City, and he’s just come out of a Chance Shop. As it goes on, he takes on the evil Parker Brothers in the game of Monolopy. He has to defeat them. It tries to incorporate all the iconic imageries — a sports car pulls up, there’s someone on a horse, someone pushing a wheelbarrow — and rich Uncle Pennybags, you’re going to see him as the maître d’ at the restaurant and he’s the buggy driver and the local eccentric and the doorman at the opera. There’s all these sight gags.”

Well, I guess it’s good that Scott wasn’t a Rock, Paper, Scissors fan or we’d be watching two hours of hand pumping showdowns. I know that’s not fair, but even after talking to Beddor I’m still skeptical that I want to spend hours in a darkened theater with Uncle Pennybags and the thimble.

[From the L.A. Times]

I don’t know, I could see it working. It just depends on how well they balance sticking to the elements of the game with creating a unique and interesting plot. The Times’ writer points out that most of the Monopoly games of his child ended up with everyone walking away long before the game was finished, and that’s sure true of mine as well. My sister and I never had the patience to read over the rules so we’d just make up our own, thus I’m sort of lacking on the fundamentals here. But I think as long as the game’s concept is just a jumping off point, it could work.

And as Frank Beddor pointed out, anything Ridley Scott does is going to be visually awesome. I hope the movie is filled with giant grey-haired Scottie dogs and huge irons. And that… that wheel thing. With the stick attached. What was that? I had to look it up just now, apparently it’s a cannon. I always thought it was just a =spinning wheel or something. Okay, I can see how this all will work now.