Peter Berg Sets His Sites on Universal’s Battleship

By Kevin Coll • May 18, 2009 • View Comments

We got wind of Berg’s interest on this project back when we talked about Hasbro’s properties getting made into movies and how they are bringing in A-list talent to adapt their board game into narrative full-length feature.

In that article we mentioned that Peter Berg was being pegged to bring the Battleship property to life for the studio. Now the Hollywood Reporter is reporting Peter Berg does in fact have his sights on directing the film that is being sold as an epic naval action adventure. Negotiations have been ongoing but now it seems the Friday Night Lights, The Rundown, Kingdom director is poised to helm the Battleship project.

Brothers Jon and Erich Hoeber have signed on to write the script for Universal as well. Other Hasbro films currently in the works are:

1. Ouija, to be produced by Michael Bay with National Treasure screenwriters Cormac and Marianne Wibberley in negotiations to write the script inspired by Parker Brothers’ game;
2. Bruce Almighty screenwriter Steve Odekerk is putting the final touches on a superhero-comedy script based on Kenner’s long-defunct, elastic-limbed muscleman, Stretch Armstrong.
3. Not to mention Ridley Scott is working on Monopoly, Ethan Cohen is writing Candyland and director, Gore Verbinski is developing Clue.

As I mentioned in our Hasbro article bringing in A-List talent is the smartest way to enhance the brands of these toys and games outside that “bubble” and bring something new that has never been thought of, just look what has been done with Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg bringing to life a live-action version of Transformers and Stephen Sommers bringing us some G.I. Joe. Granted toys are easier than board games but its the narrative free storytelling in the board game brands that give a lot of leeway to the film creatives like Berg to do something cool with the project and I see Battleship being Top Gun on the water with a little Crimson Tide thrown in for good measure.

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About the Author

Kevin Coll

Kevin is a film freak, just ask him something movie related and he lights up like a Christmas tree. Originally his destiny was to go to film school, hit LA and try and become the next big thing. Circumstances change but in college, he fell in love with writing. After several failed attempts in starting a legit and hip school online magazine for his university Kevin moved into the blogosphere for himself and began Kevin’s Rant which in 2007 morphed into Fused Film. Kevin has contributed articles on other sites like Geeks of Doom and FilmShaft, he has also been a guest on podcasts for MovieViral and The Film Feed at FS.Net. His favorite movie of all time is Empire Strikes Back, he loves his Chucks, he is an avid Stargate fan and classic rock is his music scene. Email him at: kcoll@fusedfilm.com Follow His Twitter: FusedFilm