Atari signs movie deal with Universal for 10 classic game franchises

• Universal has acquired the first feature film project from the partnership.
• The films are planned as large-scale action-adventure adaptations.
• Matt Reilly and Carl Hampe wrote the screenplay for the first project.

Atari has partnered with Entertainment 360 in a deal with Universal Pictures that gives the studio the rights to develop 10 classic Atari video game properties for the big screen.

As reported by Deadline, Universal has already acquired the first project from the partnership, a feature film based on Atari intellectual property. 

The film will be produced by Entertainment 360's Guymon Casady from a screenplay by Matt Reilly and Carl Hampe, who will also serve as producers.

The agreement covers 10 Atari properties: Asteroids, Adventure, Berzerk, Breakout, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong and Yars' Revenge. The partnership aims to turn the franchises into large-scale action-adventure films.

Classic franchises

Atari chairman and CEO Wade Rosen confirmed the agreement, saying the company is looking to bring its long-running games and worlds to a new audience through film.

"For more than five decades, Atari has created games and worlds that have remained part of popular culture long after their original release," Rosen said. "We are excited to work with Universal and Entertainment 360 to bring the spirit of our iconic brand and games to a new medium."

The collaboration was sparked by an original spec from Reilly, a former Universal studio executive who moved into screenwriting and producing, alongside Hampe, whose previous credits include Hellboy and Jungle Cruise.

Casady said he and Reilly grew up playing Atari 2600 games and believed the screenplay captured the imaginative spirit that made the original titles memorable.

Last month, Atari acquired Australian mobile games studio Hipster Whale in a deal worth up to $39.3 million, and earlier this month it appointed Andreas Deptolla as president of Atari Europe to oversee the company's expanding operations across the region.