Atari Classic Arcade Games Centipede & Missile Command Headed For Big Screen

EXCLUSIVE: Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films has closed a deal to partner with Atari to produce and finance two feature films based on Centipede and Missile Command, the classic arcade game properties. Randall Emmett and George Furla will produce, and Atari, Stephen Belafonte, Wayne Marc Godfrey and Robert Jones will be executive producers on the film projects.

Both of the shooter games launched in 1980 during what was considered a golden age of video arcade games. In Centipede, players battled against a pestilence fusillade that included the title critters, spiders, scorpions and fleas. In Missile Command, players had to protect six California cities from a barrage of ballistic missiles. Accomplished players could be on these games for hours; I always seemed to be fishing my pocket for quarters, too often. These are certainly the branded sci-fi properties film companies covet; the challenge for the producers will be to create a narrative arc while keeping intact the exhilaration of blowing stuff up.

Atari CEO Fred Chesnais said the company was “thrilled to partner with Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films to develop feature films based on two of our most beloved titles. Centipede and Missile Command are part of Atari’s unparalleled and rich library of popular games and we cannot wait to see the movies come to life.”

Emmett called the games “immensely popular titles have been enjoyed by generations of gamers worldwide. We look forward to a very successful partnership and to bringing Centipede and Missile Command to the big screen.”

E/F/O is in post-production on the Martin Scorsese-directed Silence and recently wrapped the Elliott Lester-directed Arnold Schwarzenegger/Scoot McNairy starrer 478, which Emmett and Furla produce with Darren Aronofsky. The company just wrapped Marauders, the Steven C. Miller-directed drama that stars Bruce Willis. Martin Barab of Hamrick & Evans brokered the deal for EFO.