Monday, December 20, 2010 at 11:11PM Video Game Company Electronic Arts Developing 'Madden Curse' Movie
So you've most likely had one of two reactions to that headline. If you're well-versed on your video games and/or sports like I am, your first response was a dry "really?" Or, if you've never experienced the greatness that is Madden Football, you have no idea what it meant.
In case you fall into the latter category, here's a brief history on the $3 billion video game franchise and what's known as the Madden Curse. Every year, EA Sports (Electronic Arts) puts out a new copy of the football video game with typically the superstar from the last NFL season on the cover. The "curse" is that whomever lands on the Madden cover has a God-awful season due to either serious injury, poor performance, or off the field issues. If you believe in these things (I'm looking at you Red Sox and Cubs fans), there's a lot to buy into over the last decade.
And apparently Electronic Arts thinks so too, as the company is making the transition into film with the development of Madden Curse. Hit the jump to read the film's logline and what you can expect.
According to reports, the film "will follow a former Madden video game champion who is forced out of retirement just as he finds himself on the corner of the game’s cover — and subject to the curse.” So basically we've got a high profile star who retired on top but has to come back to the game (most likely for financial reasons) and has to avoid injuries at every turn. I wonder if they'll get Brett Farve to play himself? I mean...
In all seriousness, everything in my being says I should hate this idea, but I'm kind of excited about it. It just sounds fun. Can't you just picture a beat up QB dropping back to pass, paranoid the Strong Safety is gonna go all Joe Theismann on him off the weak side blitz (too much football talk for ya?) It has all the makings of a funny, sports related Final Destination. And if they go the R-rated route (ala FX's The League) even better.
More than half of you out there will hate this idea, but let's be honest this film isn't going to be for you anyway. It has a clear cut demographic (men 18-30) and I hope they go all-in here.
Reader Comments (4)
"Former Madden video game champion" to me sounds like it'd be about a video game player, not a character in the game. Although I think your slant sounds like it'd make a much better (and more amusing) movie.
(It doesn't seem to me like it'd make much sense to have the movie feature a video game player rather than an NFL player, since the latter is who the "curse" is supposed to apply to, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's not the angle the movie would take...)
If you fall into this latter category, here is a historical overview of the franchise video game $ 3 billion in what is known as the curse of Madden. Every year
This idea seems to fall around the likes of Battleship and Ouija Board... makes me ask "Umm, what?"
very nice blog