# Universal makes deal to make 10 Atari 2600 movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885 "2026-07-23T23:07:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/1 "2026-07-23T23:07:35Z")
We can possibly look forward to Asteroids Adventure Berzerk Breakout Centipede Crystal Castle Millipede Missile Command Pong Yars’ Revenge > **[Atari Signs Deal With Universal To Turn 10 Iconic Games Into Movies](https://deadline.com/2026/07/atari-universal-deal-10-game-ip-script-matt-reilly-carl-hampe-entertainment-360-1237001656/)** > > Atari has signed a deal with Universal Pictures giving the studio first look at developing 10 classic Atari video game properties for the big screen. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2026, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/2 "2026-07-23T23:11:31Z")
But … but … I haven’t seen the Emoji movie yet! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/3 "2026-07-24T00:03:46Z")
Maybe they can make a movie out of this. > **[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (video game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T._the_Extra-Terrestrial_(video_game))** > > E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 adventure video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari 2600, based on the film of the same name. The game's objective is to guide the eponymous character through various screens to collect three pieces of an interplanetary telephone that will allow him to contact his home planet. The game was designed by Howard Scott Warshaw, who intended it to be an innovative adaptation, but Atari held unrealistic expectations for sales based on the inter... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/4 "2026-07-24T00:06:57Z")
Probably shouldn’t do Custer’s Revenge. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/5 "2026-07-24T00:10:21Z")
What about Joust?! Knights on flying ostriches, escaping lava…just think of the possibilities! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/6 "2026-07-24T00:12:05Z")
They have both Centipede and Millipede, but no Pitfall? Of all of the 2600 games, that was the one that most felt like it had a real world. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/7 "2026-07-24T00:15:28Z")
But the real world famously has much less quicksand than we expected! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/8 "2026-07-24T00:18:31Z")
Didn’t they make a fantasy book series out of it? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/9 "2026-07-24T00:19:18Z")
Two Atari games I played often were Wabbit and Coconuts. Wabbit was one of the rare games with a female protagonist, and you had to throw eggs at rabbits (wabbits?) to keep them from stealing carrots. Coconuts was a guy with an umbrella and pith hat walking under coconut trees while trying to avoid coconuts being thrown down by an angry monkey. Either of those have as much of a movie plot in them as the others. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/10 "2026-07-24T00:32:41Z")
Tell me these aren’t summer blockbuster material. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/44PruNCl-pA/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGH8gSyglMA8=&rs=AOn4CLC_Vcj3tCO11Qf-o1Wuw_EZ0GQVwQ "Coconuts for the Atari 2600") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44PruNCl-pA) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wIx1h0P_IP4/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGFcgZSgPMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBBdpbzmmLkhq0P5Y-twJdtj6N7pA "Wabbit for the Atari 2600") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIx1h0P_IP4) ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/11 "2026-07-24T00:54:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Tell me these aren’t summer blockbuster material. > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=44PruNCl-pA](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=44PruNCl-pA) > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wIx1h0P\_IP4](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wIx1h0P_IP4) Did you ever notice that the cover art is way more detailed than the game? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/12 "2026-07-24T01:14:25Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Centipede I believe Hollywood has mutually agreed to never again make a movie with this word in the title. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/13 "2026-07-24T02:11:54Z")
From the article: > Partnering with Entertainment 360, Atari has signed a deal with Universal Pictures giving the studio the right to develop 10 classic Atari video game properties for the big screen. Frankly, this sounds more like an Entertainment 720 kind of deal. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/w_ul6dXgkSk/maxresdefault.jpg "Ben Visits Entertainment 720 | Parks and Recreation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ul6dXgkSk) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/14 "2026-07-24T13:01:09Z")
Oh, and if they do make Centipede, I hope they keep the lore that what you’re shooting is a strictly-nonlethal magic wand that pacifies the bugs rather than killing them. Apparently the creator of the game was a pacifist. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/15 "2026-07-24T13:20:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > They have both Centipede and Millipede, but no Pitfall? Pitfall was an Activision game so it’s owned by Microsoft as part of Activision Blizzard. These 10 titles are classic Atari games and are probably part of Atari SA’s turnaround attempt. * * * My assumption is that any movie idea involves all (or many) of these titles in some sort of meta movie. I don’t think there’s enough to leverage from any one title. I could see an attempt to replicate the Lego movie with Atari IP. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/16 "2026-07-24T13:21:49Z")
Oh, and if Adventure ever makes it to the big screen and there isn’t a plot point about the “invisible dot” I will pen a strongly worded letter to somebody. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/17 "2026-07-24T16:24:57Z")
Yes. The first Easter Egg most people experienced. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/18 "2026-07-24T16:27:44Z")
> [@CaveMike](#): > > My assumption is that any movie idea involves all (or many) of these titles in some sort of meta movie. They tried that, and it was fucking terrible. > **[Pixels (2015 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixels_(2015_film))** > > Pixels is a 2015 science fiction action comedy film directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by Tim Herlihy and Tim Dowling. Loosely adapted from the 2010 French short film by Patrick Jean, the film stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Brian Cox. In the film, an alien force misinterprets videotaped footage of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, resulting in them attacking Earth with technological recreations of icons from the games; the... ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/19 "2026-07-24T16:49:55Z")
I’m fond of Canyon Bomber. It could be a WWII theme. And the pilot’s girl tells him to not go, she has a Bad Feeling, but “No I must do my duty. Those blocks won’t bomb themselves!” And on the last block, he misses and dies. Sadness! This stuff writes itself! ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885/20 "2026-07-24T17:16:26Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Probably shouldn’t do Custer’s Revenge Or Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/universal-makes-deal-to-make-10-atari-2600-movies/1031885.md?page=2)