Spore, the computer game where players create their own creatures, then evolve them, create the worlds they live in, and then share with other users to create a giant universe, would seem a bit open-ended for a film adaptation, but that hasn’t stopped Fox, who’ve made a deal to bring Spore to the big screen as a CG animated feature, to de directed Chris Wedge.
It seems the adaptation was Wedge’s idea, with Fox keen to follow him wherever he wants to go after the success of his work on the Ice Age movies and Robots. “I’m always looking for unique worlds to go to in animation,” Wedge said. “From every perspective – visually, thematically and comedically – the world of Spore provides the potential to put something truly original on the screen.”
It comes only a week after Fox bought the rights to the children’s book, The Leaf Men And The Brave Good Bugs, for Wedge to direct, snatching the film rights from the also interested Pixar. He’s also going live action, with an adaptiation of the The Inventions Of Hugo Cabret, which Johnny Depp is producing.
Spore has been a great success on the PC, with the original and various expansion packs selling over 3.2 million units since it was first released in September, 2008. While it’s difficult to see how a film version can truly reflect such vastly open-ended god game, it certainly lets the play around with all sorts of monsters.