People love to say that life’s not fair; and it’s a good bet many have questioned whether or not someone’s talking about the Hasbro tabletop game of that same name. The Game of Life, or Life for short, has been on store shelves and activity cupboards for over a century and a half; with many variants themed after popular IP keeping its legacy alive and well. And now, that family favorite is about to be adapted into a major motion picture, thanks to a team that understands fun in that very realm. 

The folks at Deadline have broken the news that Spirited and Instant Family director Sean Anders is now attached as the director for this Amazon-MGM Studios project. Writer Allan Loeb, and producers Peter Chernin, David Ready, Zev Foreman, along with Anders’ frequent partner John Morris, are also along for the ride.

Predictably, there are no plot details available at this time. Apparently one meeting between the Collateral Beauty screenwriter and Chernin was enough to get this idea off the ground; so whatever the concept is, it has inspired great confidence. Which reminds me of the fact that another beloved Hasbro board game has been kicking around Hollywood for almost 20 years – with not even director Ridley Scott being able to get it made. 

The Monopoly board game art, pictured next to a shot of Ridley Scott from a featurette for Napoleon.

Lest We Forget The Multiple Bonkers Pitches To Make A Monopoly Movie

If you’re thinking that The Game of Life is a pretty nutty concept for a silver screen adaptation, you clearly have either forgotten or never heard of Monopoly’s rounds in Tinseltown. Between 2007 and John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s current attempt at Lionsgate, a variety of ideas have been approached and rejected to bring Uncle Pennybags’ domain to a theater near you.

Out of the various pitches, which have danced between non-fiction and absolute fiction, the one that director Ridley Scott brought to the table in 2007 was probably the most promising. With the Napoleon director drafting The Studio’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to write the film, this could have been a collision between the legendary auteur and the pair that brought us Superbad.

This dream team sounds even more irresistible when paired with details Rogen shared in a 2025 interview with Variety. Apparently this is how Scott sold them on the project, way back when:

He was going to direct the ‘Monopoly’ movie, and me and Evan [Goldberg] went into his office and he said, ‘Imagine a helicopter shot of Central Park. You’re looking down on it from above. You pull up, you see all the buildings surrounding Central Park. What does it look like?’ And then he said, ‘A Monopoly board!’ And were like, ‘Fuck, that’s good.’

Per a report from ComingSoon (via AV Club) in 2010, Scott’s version was going to be a satire on the American financial market. What’s more, an aficionado of the Parker Brothers playtime staple was going to fall into the game itself – and engage in a round of financial combat with said brothers. Alas, that never happened.

However, Monopoly’s current writing team feel like an inspired hire, as seen through their work on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. So maybe Allan Loeb’s The Game of Life is a competing project that has the gas to breeze past the Day of Reckoning and straight to victory. If you’re hoping to learn more about how this project pans out, keep a browser tab tuned to THS’ Movie News archives; as it’s anybody’s guess where the spinner will bring this picture next.

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Source: Deadline

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