Ever since it was announced, I was convinced that The Sims was an absurd idea and there was no practical way to make it in to a movie. A game where you basically play God and run the lives of a virtual family. As a movie? Well apparently I was right because Collider got a chance to speak to producer John Davis who revealed the way they are going to make it work is to do what Hollywood does best... recycle a couple of old ideas and slap a brand name on it for marketing purposes.
When asked quite pointedly about video game adaptations, their crappy record and past producers' empty promises all Davis could muster was to point to The Sims being the biggest selling game ever. Well that covers your reason for its brand usage I guess but there is no logical translation from sales of the game to the success of the adaptation.
Davis then revealed that his plan to parlay these sales in to a movie was to rip off other movies. He says he wants to make a movie about a 14 year old kid and his friend who discover a limited edition expansion pack for the game which allows them to control the real world via their computer. OK so now we've covered Jumanji (game which crashes in to real world), and Bruce Almighty (Joe Schmoe being given God-like powers to control the world). When pressed about possible comparisons to quirky 80s flick Weird Science, Davis as much as came out and admitted that the rest of the movie would basically play out as it did; "There will be somebody coming out of the game into the real world, like “Weird Science” did... I think the third act is great, because obviously... the nemesis gets his hands on the game in the third act and he’s now set up this incredible obstacle course of incredible things that you can only do through your Sims game that our heroes have to go through before the game becomes permanent and they’re forever screwed."
He claims they are aiming for an "Amblin-esque" style movie for all the family rather than an edgier Weird Science slant, further compounding Jumanji comparisons. The bottom line is I'm not sold. It sounds like the execs got together, thought of every successful family/teen movie that involved games, computers and God-like powers and threw them in a blender to see what came out then decided to slap a Sims badge on it. Not everything is suitable for an adaptation but in this wonderful time of economic crisis it's good to see that the power of the dollar still outweighs the power of common sense.
To read the full interview with Davis where he also discusses the welcome death of AVP amongst other things, click here.
