We all remember where we were when Paramount Pictures released the first look trailer of 2020's Sonic the Hedgehog and the internet was set ablaze with how uncomfortable the live-action blue blur made them feel (the horror of those teeth and eyes still keeps us up at night). Well we can brace ourselves for another trip into the uncanny valley as THR has reported that Pac-Man will be the latest video game legend to make his way into the live-action world.
The project is currently helmed by Bandai Namco Entertainment (no surprises there) and Wayfarer Studios, and is said to be based on an original idea by Sonic the Hedgehog mastermind, Chuck Williams.
Now, as much as people kicked up a fuss over the idea of a live-action Sonic movie, credit must be given to Williams for pitching the idea in the first place. The first two movies were such a box office hit that the third has already received a release date. But can Williams really strike gold twice?
The issue with Pac-Man is, unlike Sonic, he will always appear out of place in the real world. Sure, Sonic's blue fur, bulging eyes and general hedgehog-walking-like-a-human-ness made him something that you wouldn't expect to see on your daily commute, but at least his vague resemblance to a human meant that you could believe in him as a character as much as you can any other CG creation.
Pac-Man, ironically, is just not well-rounded enough by comparison. While Sonic had quips and speedy legs, Pac-Man is nominally just a hungry little ball. Games like Pac-Man World demonstrate that our spherical friend can be anthropomorphised to a certain extent, but would the studio make him look more human, and if so, how? Eyelashes? Pores? Please for the love of god do not give him finger nails...
We don't have any idea of a release date or casting news just yet (please Chris Pratt, please Chris Pratt...) but we can be pretty certain that the film is a few years down the line just yet. This leaves Illumination's Super Mario Movie to fill the void in Hollywood's oh-so-needed video game adaptations until then.
What do you make of this news? Who would you like to see take on the lead role? Let us know in the comments below!
[source hollywoodreporter.com]
Comments 27
🤓🤓 The pac is actually back.
Could be great like sonic.
But who am I fooling here, it’ll be bad for sure. Sonic atleast has humans in some incarnations, pac-man has never had them AFAIK.
Let me guess... Dwayne Johnson will be his voice actor.
Get ready for the cheesy marketing:
"Look forward to the most action-PACed movie of the year!"
"Lights. Camera. PAC-TION!"
In all seriousness though, whether the movie is good or not, I'm really happy Namco has finally started doing everything in their power to make Pac-Man relevant again: Remastering triple-A games, releasing compilations of the more obscure Pac-Man titles, and now doing a movie. He desperately needs to be thrown back in the public eye. As a kid, I had an issue of "Guinness World Records 2010: Gamer's Edition,' which listed Pac-Man as the most recognizable video game character of all-time. Of the people polled 94% recognized Pac-Man, who beat out even Mario at 93%. I'm sure the numbers are very different nowadays.
Pac-Man fans have had a raw deal for such a long time now. From a garbage redesign in Ghostly Adventures, to several-year gaps between releases. For a while, all Namco was interested in doing was weird promotions like adding Hello Kitty to their mobile game, releasing an expensive Pac-Man figurine that had the most hideous abstract art you can imagine, some kind of weird "#Pactive" initiative on their social media channel that...I guess was supposed to encourage people to get off the couch or something? It was incredibly arbitrary and boring stuff. I'm very glad we've gotten out of that lull. Here's hoping Ms. Pac-Man can somehow make a comeback if they ever get the licensing sorted out.
The only live action version of this I would watch is Chris Pratt in a rubber suit. I'd book time off work and watch all available showings and even buy tickets for showings at the cinema that I can't attend as I will be watching it for the 65th time on one of their other screens.
Obviously will be set in the horror genre..
Well this is certainly.... interesting news. Huh.
I'm surprised they didn't go with Ms. Pac-Man played by Leslie Jones
Why…?
(He doesn’t need one)
Pac-man would be perfect as a silent movie
Live action Pacman? What? Why? Just no..
But... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/PixelsOfficialPoster.jpg
I really don't know if this is going to work. Pac-Man just seems too cartoony to work in live-action. That's part of the reason why the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie failed, if you ask me: trying to take a cute, cartoony fantasy world and make it a live-action sci-fi dystopia.
Obviously, there were other problems with the film, but very few cartoony games can actually work in live-action. Sonic is the exception, not the rule, to that norm.
Now, if there's one Namco movie I would love to see made, it would be Soulcalibur. And I can just see the basic plot premise: people from the world over hear tales of a sword (Soul Edge) that grants them immense power, and converge on Europe to claim this sword as their own.
But upon learning that the sword is malevolent and steals the souls of others to enhance it's own power, while making it's wielder go mad, they band together to stop the current wielder of the sword, Nightmare (formerly Siegfried Schtauffen). And the purest-hearted of the group, Sophitia Alexandra, is chosen by fate to wield Soul Calibur, the one sword that can defeat Soul Edge.
Patton Oswalt for the voice of Pac Man... Might actually make the movie worth seeing. I've decided that having him voicing a character can basically make any show better.
As someone shamelessly entertained by Pixels back in the day, I thought it would be all the live action Pac-man we would ever get. But then again, after the announcement of a Tetris movie, the sky's the limit.😆
I’m not worried about the story necessarily, because Sonic was great… but I think I’m going to have nightmares about a live-action Pac-Man
Another movie to add to the Smash Bros cinematic universe
It's pac-ing time?
How do you make Pac-Man of all things into live action? Literally the only thing that comes to mind for me in that regard is this.
I'd bet good money that Adam Sandler will probably be there though.
Pikachu, Sonic, Mario and now Pac-Man... oh yeah. The Super Smash Cinematic Universe is coming together.
Don't know if it will be good or bad, but I'm gonna have to get a ticket.
I wonder if Pac man will say "It's Pac'in time." and pac all over the place?
Looks like cocaine is back in vogue in Hollywood.
My stupid self thought this was talking about the pixels movie from a while back. Idk man as long as they don't give him human features cough cough original sonic cough, the movie will be fine
Ok HOW would this work?!?
Maybe they’ll take inspiration from the cancelled Ghost zone game where the boy gets sucked into a Pac-Man cabinet. If they don’t, I really have no idea how they’ll go about a live action Pac-Man movie, either way, I’m still going to go see it.
@pikmin_4 That. It could come back as a comic or take a few pieces of the area for levels in a future pac man world game like the computer chip level.
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