Battleship brought the Milton Bradley strategy board game to life on the big screen with an alien invasion twist, and now Hasbro and their Entertainment One studio are working on turning another one of their iconic games into a TV series. Hasbro has brought in House of Cards creator Beau Willimon to develop a TV series adaptation of the classic strategy board game Risk.
The Hollywood Reporter has news on the Risk TV series being in development as part of a new multi-year, first-look TV deal with Westward, the production company created by Beau Willimon and Jordan Tappis. Here’s what the two had to say about both the deal and the project in a statement:
“All of us at Westward are thrilled to join forces with eOne to bring to life some of the most successful IP in the marketplace as well as partner on our extensive slate of scripted television shows. We’re excited to develop Risk as our first project together.”
If you’ve never played Risk, the game involves up to six players and their strategic placement of troops in countries on a real world map, maneuvering and attacking, aided by the roll of a dice, all to achieve world domination. It’s a board game version of worldwide war, and there have been countless iterations over the years, including the futuristic version Risk 2210 A.D. and tons of branded versions inspired by Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Star Trek, and even Rick and Morty.
The biggest question I have is this: what about Risk translates into a movie without it simply being a standard war drama? Will the gameplay be incorporated into the film somehow? I can’t imagine real war commanders rolling dice to see how many troops they’re going to send into Russia, and there’s no indication as to how the game will be adapted into a series without simply using the board game’s name for cheap brand recognition. There was once a Risk movie in development at Sony back in 2009, but there was no indication about how the game would be utilized in the narrative. But I guess that’s why they hired Beau Willimon.
Michael Lombardo, president global television at Entertainment One, commented on the Risk project and overall TV deal:
“As we continue to build out eOne’s world-class content slate, we couldn’t think of more perfect partners than Beau and Jordan — whose award-winning storytelling and imagination are among the best in the business. In Beau, we’ve found an amazing combination of brilliant producer, singular creator, and avid fan of Risk. We can’t wait to work with him and the rest of the Westward team to reimagine that brand and so much more.”
We’re not sure if the “so much more” part of that sentiment means that Willimon and Tappis have ideas on how to adapt some of Hasbro’s other popular brands into movies and TV shows or if he’s just referring to any other TV shows the duo might have in their back pocket. Either way, Hasbro clearly has plenty of toys and games they want to turn into movies, and Willimon and Tappis will hopefully bolster that plan by having a good idea for how to make Risk work as a TV series.
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