TAKEN Director Pierre Morel Set To Be Offered OUIJA BOARD Movie?
The LATimes have exclusively announced that 'Taken' director Pierre Morel has entered negotiations to direct a movie based on the 'Ouija Board' Hasbro game, though they do stress he is just one of a few names being courted. Morel has been trying to crack a remake of 'Dune' all this year, so one would think he'll only take this if he can't get that one going.
Unlike some other Hasbro Universal projects (like 'Battelships' and 'Stretch Armstrong'), the 'Ouija Board' project has a lot of scope and potential but only if the game is used as a mere narrative device for driving some intrigue. I'm very skeptical of the whole Hasbro film thing, as it says everything that is wrong about the power of commercial interests in film optioning decisions.
To me, the only purpose for any of these films is to sell more games, and it's all been done in the most vulgar, transparent manner imaginable. When did artistic integrity and original creative endeavour become such obviously secondary concerns around Hollywood?
The project is still very much in the earliest of development stages, but the word on the street is that apparently Universal will resist the temptation to make the 'Ouija' project a teen chiller/'Exorcist' riffer and approach it as an action-adventure in the vein of 'National Treasure'.
A huge movie. Thats a big, big, big thing. Its more of a, like, Pirates of the Caribbean adventure story, with a Ouija board at the center of it., later stating: There are definitely horror elements, because its about Ouija and what happens from an Ouija board, but its a much bigger film. I would call it an action-adventure with horror elements.
But whether 'Ouija' will be as enjoyable as 'Jumanji' is another question entirely.
Follow me on Twitter for more film related goodness: @sithemovieguySimon Gallagher, OWF's Horror & Comics Writer