Huzzah! After years of waiting, fans of the popular and long running The Secret of Monkey Island computer games will see it finally make the leap to the big screen. Lucasarts has had a slew of fun and exciting 8-bit time wasters but none has had a better shot at being adapted to a feature length film than Ron Gilbert’s above mentioned game. This film, called simply Monkey Island will be financed and produced by Lucasfilm Ltd.
Since seeing the staggering success that Disney and Jerry Bruckehimer had with their own Pirates series, George Lucas’ electronics division Lucasarts has been charged with breathing some cinematic life into those long dormant pixelated stories. The game’s creator, Ron Gilbert, has been trying to get a Monkey Island film off the ground as far back as 2010 [photo below]. In December Lucasfilm received the first draft of Ron Gilbert’s script. Admittedly the Monkey Island series is a little more ragtag and comical than the Disney property but as most stories these days are edgy, dark or both, Gilbert says he had to change his characters “just a bit“.
Leading this most assuredly ensemble piece will likely be seasoned swashbuckler Orlando Bloom who is very close to closing negotiations. As he’s pretty much destined to hold a sword in every role, Lucasarts reps were quoted as saying Bloom is the “first and only choice for Guybrush Threepwood“. Bloom, should this all work out, will share the screen with Jessica Chastain who will be playing Elaine Marley. Also rumored for various roles would be Bob Hoskins, Martin Freeman, Colin Ferrell among others including recent Oscar-Winner Octavia Spencer.
But what’s a hero without his villain right? Lucasarts reps were quick to say that this film, the first in a planned franchise, would not feature long running villain LeChuck. Opting to save him for the later installments, Guybrush would find himself matching wits and sabres with a new lesser villain that Gilbert has been crafting for years; the dread pirate Captain S. Loof Lirpa.
Lucasfilm Ltd. is currently location scouting and aiming for principal photography to begin this Summer. We don’t usually post on the weekend but thought this was well worth sharing. What do you think? Sound good so far??
