First, “Clue.” Then, “Battleship.” Now, it’s official — “Candy Land” is coming to a theater near you, with none other than the sugar-powered superstar Adam Sandler starring in the lead role.
Columbia Pictures, Sandler’s Happy Madison and Hasbro are in talks to bring a live action version of the perennial kids board game to the screen, with Sandler attached to star.
Kevin Lima (“Enchanted”) will direct, while Sandler and “Saturday Night Live” vet Robert Smigel are in talks to write the screenplay.
“‘Candy Land’ is more than just a game. It is a brand that children, parents and grandparents know and love,” said Columbia president Doug Belgrad. “The world of ‘Candy Land’ offers an extraordinary canvas upon which to create a fantastical, live-action family adventure film with a larger than life part for Adam. We are thrilled to partner with Hasbro and Happy Madison on this project.”
“The creative talent on board for this movie is amazing and we are excited to bring alive the world of Candy Land for kids and families everywhere,” Hasbro’s Goldner added. “Sony/Columbia has been a wonderful creative partner as we develop another of our games, ‘Risk,’ for the big screen. We are looking forward to working with Sony/Columbia and Adam Sandler and his team at Happy Madison Productions on this film.”
If memory serves correctly, Candy Land is a pretty simple game in which players race across the board in an attempt to find the lost king of Candy Land, leaving the writers plenty of room to create a riveting and hilarious film story. We can probably expect an “Alice in Wonderland”-style glut of garish effects and cartoony landscapes and characters aimed at wee ones. According to Wikipedia, the only skill required to play the original board game is “color recognition.” In this case, it must be green.
Relativity’s also moving forward on a Taylor Lautner-free “Stretch Armstrong,” and there’s “GI Joe: Retaliation” this summer. One of these games/toy adaptation has to be the next “Transformers,” right?
Sandler’s latest “comedy” was “Jack and Jill,” co-starring Al Pacino and Katie Holmes.
What do you think of Adam Sandler starring in “Candy Land”?