Most have been doubtful since Universal announced plans to transition the popular family game “Monopoly” to the big screen. At the beginning though the project was rolling, troubles were hindering the project to evolve into a real movie. Saving grace came from famous Hollywood producer for one of the top-grossing comedies “There’s Something About Mary”, Frank Beddor. Hit with an idea, Beddor was responsible for writing the story marking the official jumpstart for the project. Not moved by doubters, he boldly believes that a film’s concept is simply a foundation not the whole structure. He compares it to the smash-hit “Pirates of the Carribean” which earned big despite negative feedbacks in the beginning.
Beddor recalls how his inspiration came from Lewis Caroll’s books and the “Looking Glass Wars” experience saying, “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.”
Judging from his inspiration, the film would most likely follow the footsteps of previous comedies infused with special effects with the likes of “Bedtime Stories,” “Night at the Museum” and “The Mask“. Spilling out spoilers, Beddor proudly reveals his plot stating:
“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.’
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.”
Jumping in to join the interesting mix for the project is filmmaker Ridley Scott responsible for pictures such as “Gladiator,” “Alien” and “Blade Runner“. “After I pitched it to him, he put out his hand and said, ‘What do I have to be part of this movie?’ “says Beddor on how he convinced the outstanding filmmaker to join in. He continues saying, “So I said, ‘Do you mean you want to direct it?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, and I will tell you why – it’s all the things you just said and the fact that I had these epic Monopoly battles with my family when I was young.‘”
Despite the doubters negative comments, Beddor’s anticipations are high with Scott’s attachment to the film saying, “You know the visual component is going to be beautiful with Ridley. And you have all of the world editions to deal with — there are different editions of the game so the city won’t be limited to the Atlantic City edition that we know in America. Ridley grew up with the British version.”
The writer-director sees the film as an education journey in real life for viewers. “To me it’s more a metaphor for life, the taking of chances and this character through this process learns that he can do a lot of things. He’s completely brave and strategic and risk-taking while playing this game but in real life he’s a mess. He won’t roll the dice. That’s the character and journey he has to take.”
Writing the screenplay for Beddor’s story is veteran scribe Pamela Pettler, responsible for films “Monster House” and “Corpse Bride“.
Most have been doubtful since Universal announced plans to transition the popular family game “Monopoly” to the big screen. At the beginning though the project was rolling, troubles were hindering the project to evolve into a real movie. Saving grace came from famous Hollywood producer for one of the top-grossing comedies “There’s Something About Mary”, Frank Beddor. Hit with an idea, Beddor was responsible for writing the story marking the official jumpstart for the project. Not moved by doubters, he boldly believes that a film’s concept is simply a foundation not the whole structure. He compares it to the smash-hit “Pirates of the Carribean” which earned big despite negative feedbacks in the beginning.
Beddor recalls how his inspiration came from Lewis Caroll’s books and the “Looking Glass Wars” experience saying, “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.”
Judging from his inspiration, the film would most likely follow the footsteps of previous comedies infused with special effects with the likes of “Bedtime Stories,” “Night at the Museum” and “The Mask“. Spilling out spoilers, Beddor proudly reveals his plot stating:
“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.’
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.“
Jumping in to join the interesting mix for the project is filmmaker Ridley Scott responsible for pictures such as “Gladiator,” “Alien” and “Blade Runner“. “After I pitched it to him, he put out his hand and said, ‘What do I have to be part of this movie?’ “says Beddor on how he convinced the outstanding filmmaker to join in. He continues saying, “So I said, ‘Do you mean you want to direct it?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, and I will tell you why – it’s all the things you just said and the fact that I had these epic Monopoly battles with my family when I was young.‘”
Despite the doubters negative comments, Beddor’s anticipations are high with Scott’s attachment to the film saying, “You know the visual component is going to be beautiful with Ridley. And you have all of the world editions to deal with — there are different editions of the game so the city won’t be limited to the Atlantic City edition that we know in America. Ridley grew up with the British version.”
The writer-director sees the film as an education journey in real life for viewers. “To me it’s more a metaphor for life, the taking of chances and this character through this process learns that he can do a lot of things. He’s completely brave and strategic and risk-taking while playing this game but in real life he’s a mess. He won’t roll the dice. That’s the character and journey he has to take.”
Writing the screenplay for Beddor’s story is veteran scribe Pamela Pettler, responsible for films “Monster House” and “Corpse Bride“.
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