20th Century Fox has announced that it has closed the deal with toy manufacturer Hasbro and has acquired the rights to "Magic: The Gathering".
According to details presented in the Hollywood Reporter, Fox is planning on turning the popular fantasy card game into a massive film franchise that could rival the enormity of 'Harry Potter' and 'The Lord of The Rings' film series.
To push the seriousness of the studio, it has recruited screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg to oversee the development of the project. Kinberg is the man behind the films 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'X-Men: The Last Stand'.
Joining Kinberg in his technical role are Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner and Stephen Davis, CEO of Hasbro's subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast. Both have been given executive producer responsibilities for the project. Kinsberg's executives Aditya Sood and Josh Feldman will also share Davis' and Goldner's responsibilities.
Although Fox's announcement has triggered excitement, especially among those who grew up carrying decks of "Magic" cards inside their backpacks, Gamespot points out that a big-named studio being linked to a project does not necessarily mean it's going to hit theaters soon. Who could forget the rumors about the big screen debut of the popular video game 'Halo'?
Since 2005, award-winning directors like Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson have been rumored to be involved in the production of a film adaptation for the video game. However, in January of this year, a representative from Microsoft, the studio behind the game, has stomped on all the rumors and announced that the studio has no plans yet for a 'Halo' movie.
At this point, the only thing movie fans and gamers can do is to keep their fingers crossed and hope that Fox steps up and pushes on with the project.
As chronicled by Polygon, "Magic: The Gathering" was created by Richard Garfield in 1993 and gained massive popularity. The card game that allows players to play a wide range of fantasy characters and cast spells was adapted to a Windows PC-based video game in 2002. Since then, numerous platforms such as Xbox 360, Playstation 3, iPad, and Android tablets have released their own versions of the card game.
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