Former Sony Pictures exec Amy Pascal wins the rights to produce a movie based on the memoir of GamerGate target Zoe Quinn, with Scarlett Johansson reportedly attached.
Movies based on the world of video games are hardly a new idea, although critically successful adaptations are thin on the ground. The latest switch to cinema, however, takes a real-world look at video games, and focuses on possibly the biggest controversy in gaming culture of this millennium. It's been revealed that veteran film producer Amy Pascal has won the rights to make a movie based on Crash Override: How To Save The Internet From Itself, a memoir from GamerGate target and Depression Quest developer Zoe Quinn.
The initial proposal, which was developed based on the memoir from publisher Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, was known by the title Ctrl Alt Delete. According to Deadline, Amy Pascal was far from the only major player bidding for the project, but the former Sony Pictures executive won out. Not only that, but numerous actresses are already interested in portraying Quinn in the adaptation, with Scarlett Johansson reportedly one of the forerunners.
The movie's screenplay is being written by Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum, a pair of journalists with a history of writing for publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. Meanwhile, the project is currently being funded by Pascal Pictures, with Amy Pascal and Rachel O'Connor slated to produce. Although distribution has yet to be confirmed, Pascal Pictures' role under the wing of Sony means that Sony Pictures is likely to have first refusal.
This will not be the only time that external media sources have decided to take a look at the real world of video games. There have been several fantastic examples of documentaries based on either gaming fandom or game developers themselves, including The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which followed Steve Wiebe in his attempts to win the high score record for Donkey Kong. Meanwhile, Indie Game: The Movie took an in-depth look at a number of independent developers, including Fez creator Phil Fish.
Unfortunately, not all movies based on gamer culture receive such praise as the aforementioned projects. In particular, the BBC's biopic The Gamechangers, which focused upon the controversy surrounding Grand Theft Auto, was fought against hard by Rockstar Games, with parent company Take-Two Interactive even suing the broadcaster. It didn't stop the BBC from airing the finished project, however, and Rockstar was not impressed with the end result, calling the biopic "random, made-up bollocks."
This isn't the only time that GamerGate has caught the eye of public consciousness as a whole, with everyone from Steven Colbert to recently-elected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau criticizing the movement. However, aside from an awkward episode of Law and Order: SVU and online abuse documentary GTFO, GamerGate has yet to receive a full cinematic focus. We'll have more news on the project as it developers.
Source: Deadline