Missile Command: The Movie

The big-screen version of “Frogger” gets closer with each passing day…

The Los Angeles Times reports that video game maker Atari is pursuing a big-screen version of the 80’s game “Missile Command.”   The game involved defending six cities against attack against ballistic missiles, represented by squiggly lines, using anti-missile technology.

The game was introduced on the Atari 2600 and has been ported over to a variety of game systems since.   And it’s even being updated for a new generation as a multi-player game according to the report.

Atari says that since the game has sci-fi overtones it would make a perfect movie.   The game is set on another world with players defending the cities of Zardon from attacks by their neighbors the invading armies of Krytol.  And, of course with the military overtones to the game, there’s always the possibility for lots and lots of big explosions to lure in audiences (it certainly worked for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”)

Let’s not forget that the movie would probably also be filmed in 3-D.

The story could give a screenwriter a lot of room to develop a story around the backstory provided by the video game.

“Missile Command” is just the latest in a long line of classic video games that are being considered for the big-screen treatment.  We had a long-running meme on video game movies on our Voice Mail show a while back, stemming from news that “Joust” was headed to the big-screen.