It seems that every game in the world has to be adapted for the screen at the moment, and a while ago a deal was announced to bring the Ouija board to cinemas. And yes, Ouija is technically a game. Despite the fact you’re supposedly communicating to the dead and ‘talking boards’ have been around for centuries, the name Ouija is actually owned by Hasbro subsidiary Parker Brothers (and has been since 1966), makers of Monopoly, Cluedo, Risk and Trivial Pursuit. However rather fittingly, the company was founded in Salem, Massachusetts.
Plans for a movie version of Ouija are now moving forward with THR revealing that Tron: Legacy writers (and Lost executive producers), Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz have signed up to script the movie, which is being produced by Michael Bay’s genre production company, Platinum Dunes. The plan is to make an action-adventure movie that has the Ouija board as a central part of the plot, and will observe several of the Ouija ‘rules’, such as to never use it alone, never use it in a graveyard, always say good bye.
Although the whole thing undoubtedly has the feel of something that’s being cooked up purely to exploit a brand name, Ouija boards could be a pretty creepy plot device, so maybe it’ll turn out to be worthwhile.