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Lionsgate's decade-long effort to adapt the Monopoly board game into a film has entered a new phase with two separate screenwriting teams commissioned to draft competing scripts. The duos, Neil Widener & Gavin James and Rebecca Angelo & Lauren Schuker Blum, will each pitch their outlines as the studio aims to finally move the project forward. The film, which has seen numerous writers and directors attached over the years, including Kevin Hart and Tim Story, now also involves Margot Robbie as a producer. An unscripted TV series is also in development, adding to the franchise's multiplatform expansion.
Lionsgate has been developing a film adaptation of the iconic Monopoly board game for over a decade, with multiple writers attached at various stages. The latest development involves two distinct writing teams creating separate scripts.
One team consists of Neil Widener and Gavin James, known for writing the 2023 Dumb Money and the 2024 A Minecraft Movie, which grossed over $900 million worldwide; they are also working on an adaptation of the Jak & Daxter video games. The other team is Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum. The studio has received outlines from both duos and will likely commission a single script from one of them.
Previous iterations of the project included Andrew Niccol writing a draft and a version with Kevin Hart starring and Tim Story directing. More recently, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who directed Game Night, were hired but that script was ultimately scrapped. The film is set to be produced by Tom Ackerley, Josie McNamara, and Margot Robbie, the latter through her production company.
The Monopoly board game franchise has sold nearly half a billion copies globally and continues to be a cultural touchstone. Alongside the film, an unscripted Monopoly television series is also in development, though specifics remain under wraps. It is currently unclear which project, the film or the show, will be released first.
The ongoing evolution of this adaptation highlights the challenges of translating a billion-dollar board game into a cinematic universe that can resonate with contemporary audiences while honoring its legacy. The involvement of Robbie also suggests a potential star-driven vehicle aimed at broadening the film's appeal beyond traditional family audiences.
The film's production history reflects a common industry pattern: after more than ten years of development hell, studios often revisit a property with fresh creative perspectives to finally push a project into production. The choice between the two scripts will be pivotal, as Monopoly's enduring popularity provides a massive built-in audience but also raises expectations for a story that must justify its existence beyond mere brand recognition.
The track record of the attached writers, particularly Widener and James following their Minecraft success, indicates a move toward comedic, high-concept narratives that can leverage the game's core themes of real estate and wealth accumulation. Meanwhile, the parallel TV series points to a broader franchise strategy, capitalizing on the brand across multiple platforms. This multipronged approach mirrors how other intellectual properties, such as The LEGO Movie, successfully expanded from games to film.
However, the lack of concrete details about the show and the film's prolonged development also underscore the risks of overextending a franchise before establishing a solid foundation. The industry will watch closely to see if Lionsgate can finally deliver a Monopoly film that avoids the pitfalls of previous board game adaptations that struggled with narrative substance
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Monopoly Movie Lionsgate Screenwriting Neil Widener Gavin James Rebecca Angelo Lauren Schuker Blum Margot Robbie Board Game Adaptation Film Development
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