One of the oldest, and most iconic video games wasSpace Invaders, an arcade game released in 1978. As the title suggests, the game has the player repelling waves of alien spaceship attacks as the enemies draw ever closer. A live-actionSpace Invadersfilm has been in development for a long time. Greg Russo, who is writing the script for the movie, recently explained in an interview that he wants to add a new flavor to the central premise of the game instead of making anIndependence Dayripoff.
“Space Invaders is over at Warner Bros., and it’s at New Line, too, the same kind of crew that put together Mortal Kombat, and that’s one I’m really excited about. That’s a movie when I approached it I was like, ‘I don’t want to doIndependence Day.’ That was basically, I think that was the one thing I said, ‘I don’t want to do the invasion movie I’ve seen 100 times.’ And so for me, it was about finding a new way into that title, which I think is going to really blow people away expectations-wise and they’re going to see something that hopefully they weren’t expecting, so I’m excited for it.”
Some would argue thatIndependence Dayis already the perfect adaptation ofSpace Invadersfor the big screen, butGreg Russoclearly has other ideas for the story. In any case, what fans want to see is the world ofSpace Invaderson the big screen, no matter what story you wrap that world around.
Considering the simplenature of the arcade game, you might think transposing the game as a full-length film would be difficult. In a past interview, the creator of the game, Tomohiro Nishikado, had revealed that while designing the game’s final alien monster, he originally looked to a classic story for inspiration that has been adapted into movies and shows many times,The War of the Worlds.
“When I was little, The War of the Worlds by author H.G. Wells was very popular. So having grown up seeing that, I thought that aliens were octopuses. I’d look up at the night sky and wonder whetheraliens may come and attack us. That’s why we used octopuses as the biggest enemy in Space Invaders.”
So theSpace Invadersfilm already has two important sources of inspiration,War of the WorldsandIndependence Day. It now remains to be seen ifSpace Invaders: The Moviemanages to reach the same heights of blockbuster excellence as the other two films. According to Russo, movies likeSpace InvadersandMortal Kombathave a better chance of turning out well nowadays, because the people working on them are fans who actually care about the IP.
“Now, it’s like the people who grew up loving this stuff like me, we’re getting to make these movies, and so that’s why they’re starting to get a little better, because people are looking and saying, ‘wow. This looks like it was made by a fan.’ Because it actually was made by a fan.”
