Move Over ‘Centipede’, Atari Bringing ‘Missile Command’ To Theaters

Just when you thought Battleship was a dumb idea to bring to the big screen, think again.

Atari–yes, the company that created the gaming console that’s been outdated for nearly 3 decades–has decided that their third biggest selling title, Missile Command, is worthy of a big-budget reboot, as they’re bringing the idea to 20th Century Fox. Here’s the breakdown from Variety.

Game is the third top title that Atari has set up as a film property, after Universal Pictures acquired “Asteroids” and Sony Pictures Animation picked up “Rollercoaster Tycoon.” It also becomes the latest brand from the ’80s to get the bigscreen treatment, with U readying a number of toy-based properties from Hasbro, including “Battleship,” and Mattel having set up others, including “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” at Sony and “View-Master” at DreamWorks.

With “Missile Command,” the scribes have little to adapt beyond a title to build a plot around and a Cold War-heavy scenario of players having to defend their cities from being destroyed by a rain of missiles. Game celebrated its 30th anniversary last year.

The script is coming from unknowns Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama, but not to worry on their lack of experience, because with an original story of players having to defend their Cold War-era cities from an onslaught of missiles, it basically writes itself.

20th Century Fox is now heading up the production and will plan to schedule the film for a 2012-2013 release.