Atari Signs 10-Film Deal With Universal Pictures for Pong, Asteroids, Centipede & More
Atari has struck a deal with Universal Pictures that hands the studio first rights to develop feature films based on ten of its classic arcade franchises, including Pong, Asteroids, Breakout and Centipede. Universal has already bought the first project to come out of the arrangement, an original screenplay whose specific game inspiration has not yet been revealed, according to a report by Deadline that the studio confirmed.
The agreement, brokered with production outfit Entertainment 360, covers a slate that reads like a museum catalogue of the medium’s earliest hits. The 10 properties include Asteroids, Adventure, Berzerk, Breakout, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong and Yars’ Revenge. It’s a lineup built entirely on games that predate the NES era, let alone anything with a modern control scheme.
Original Screenplay, Not a Direct Adaptation, Leads the Slate
Rather than opening with a straightforward retelling of one game’s premise, Universal’s first purchase under the deal is an original spec script. Universal has bought the first project from the new partnership, a feature film based on Atari IP which will be produced by Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady from a screenplay by Matt Reilly and Carl Hampe, with both also serving as producers.
Neither Atari nor Universal has confirmed which of the ten titles inspired that first script. Universal has already bought a screenplay centered on one of the Atari titles, although it didn’t specify which or if the proposed movie would be an Atari Cinematic Universe combining properties. Outlets covering the announcement have floated Asteroids, Adventure, Crystal Castles and Pong as plausible candidates given the ambitions described for the project, though none of that is confirmed by either company.
The writing duo brings a mix of studio pedigree and genre credits to the table. The catalyst was an original spec by Reilly, the longtime studio exec at Universal who pivoted to screenwriting and producing, and Hampe, whose script work includes the franchises Hellboy and Jungle Cruise. Casady, who produced the acclaimed anthology series Genius among other credits, framed the pitch in personal terms: “Matt Reilly and I grew up playing Atari 2600 games and have remained fans ever since,” said Casady. “The best Atari games dropped you into a world and let your imagination do the rest. Carl and Matt saw an opportunity to take that same spirit and build an original, large-scale adventure around it.”
Atari’s CEO Frames the Deal Around Five Decades of Brand Equity
Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen positioned the tie-up as a natural extension of the company’s cultural footprint rather than a one-off licensing cash grab. “For more than five decades, Atari has created games and worlds that have remained part of popular culture long after their original release,” said Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen in confirming for Deadline. “We are excited to work with Universal and Entertainment 360 to bring the spirit of our iconic brand and games to a new medium.”
On the legal side, Atari is represented by IAG and Vanderkloot Law, while Universal did not offer additional comment beyond confirming the arrangement to Deadline. The overall goal for the slate, per reporting on the deal, is squarely commercial: turning wordless arcade cabinets into “big-scale action-adventure fare,” a tall order for franchises whose entire “plot” traditionally consisted of a dot, a paddle, or a rock formation.
Universal Already Tried an Asteroids Movie Once Before
This isn’t Universal’s first attempt at mining Atari’s back catalogue. Universal had previously picked up the rights for an adaptation of Asteroids back in 2009, but nothing made it to screen in the interim. That history adds a layer of skepticism to how quickly any of these ten projects will actually reach cinemas, even with a script already purchased.
The move slots into a broader Hollywood pattern of studios chasing video game IP after a string of box office wins. Universal itself is the studio behind the record-breaking Super Mario Bros. Movie and its sequel, giving it direct incentive to keep mining gaming nostalgia even outside the Nintendo relationship, while Paramount continues to build out its own Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in parallel.
What a Pong or Centipede Movie Could Even Look Like
The obvious challenge, and the one drawing the most online commentary since the news broke, is that games like Pong, Breakout and Centipede have essentially no narrative scaffolding to build from. Unlike Mario or Sonic, which arrived with recognisable characters and worlds ready-made for merchandising and sequels, Atari’s 1970s and ’80s catalogue was built around abstract shapes, high scores and two-button inputs.
That gap is presumably why Universal’s first pickup is an original story rather than a literal game-to-screen translation, giving Reilly and Hampe latitude to build a world and characters from scratch while borrowing only the tone or setting cues from whichever Atari property eventually gets named. For Australian and New Zealand players who grew up on Atari re-releases and retro compilations rather than the original cabinets, the deal is another sign of just how far nostalgia-driven IP mining has spread beyond the console generations most local gamers actually experienced firsthand.
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