Universal to bring 10 classic Atari games to the big screen

MUMBAI: Ready, player… action. Atari is pressing start on a new chapter, swapping joysticks for jump cuts as its classic video games head to Hollywood. The gaming pioneer has partnered with Entertainment 360 and Universal Pictures to develop 10 of its iconic video game franchises into feature films, marking one of the company’s biggest entertainment expansion moves in years.

Under the agreement, Universal Pictures has secured the rights to develop 10 classic Atari properties for the big screen. The studio has also acquired the first project from the partnership—an original 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 broader slate includes some of Atari’s most recognisable titles: Asteroids, Adventure, Berzerk, Breakout, Centipede, Crystal Castles, Millipede, Missile Command, Pong and Yars’ Revenge. Rather than adapting the games scene by scene, the partners aim to transform the properties into large-scale action-adventure films inspired by their worlds and concepts.

The initiative stems from an original screenplay by Reilly, a former Universal executive who transitioned into screenwriting and producing, alongside Hampe, whose credits include Hellboy and Jungle Cruise.

In a statement, Atari said its games have remained embedded in popular culture for more than five decades and expressed enthusiasm about bringing the spirit of its brand to a new storytelling medium.

Reilly and Hampe said they had grown up playing Atari 2600 games and believed the titles offered an opportunity to build original cinematic adventures. They noted that the classic games relied heavily on players’ imagination, making them well suited for expansive film adaptations.

The deal reflects Hollywood’s continuing appetite for video game adaptations following the commercial success of films and series based on gaming franchises in recent years. Studios are increasingly mining established gaming intellectual property to attract both nostalgic audiences and younger viewers already familiar with the brands.

Represented by IAG and Vanderkloot Law, Atari is now betting that characters and worlds once confined to arcade screens and home consoles can find a second life on cinema screens—proving that, for some games, “Game Over” is simply the beginning of the next level.