Believe it or not, there’s a PAC-MAN movie in the works

Nintendo isn’t the only company looking to bring a classic video game icon to the big screen. Bandai Namco is prepping PAC-MAN for the same.

So, live action?

I’m going to go ahead and assume that Bandai Namco and Wayfarer Studios’ upcoming PAC-MAN project is going to be something along the lines of the Sonic films. It’d make a lot of sense, with an animated PAC-MAN playing off of an otherwise live cast. And uh, it makes even more sense when you figure in that the story idea came from one Chuck Williams.

From Lightbeam Entertainment, Williams was behind the aforementioned Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as Brother Bear. Justin Baldoni, Manu Gargi, Andrew Calof, and Tracy Ryerson will all be involved in development of the film, with Chuck Williams and Tim Kwok onboard as producers.

If you need a little primer on the little yellow guy, here’s his career in a nutshell:

PAC-MAN is an arcade video game originally released in 1980 by Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. (previously Namco) which has become synonymous with gaming for generations of players worldwide. Officially introduced in the US in October 1980, it gained popularity far higher than in Japan and became fondly referred to as “PAC-MAN fever”. The massive admiration led to a robust merchandising program with more than 400 items and a TV series with high ratings (56% of share) in the US. In June 2005, Guinness World Records bestowed the honor of “Most Successful Coin-Operated game machine” on PAC-MAN. With new console and mobile games launching every year, its popularity has crossed the globe for more than 40 years.

Bandai Namco press release