Last year, Compulsion Games released their work-in-progress dystopian survival title We Happy Few into early access. While the gameplay may have been (and still is) fairly traditional survival fare, its psychedelic 60s aesthetic and dark sense of humor helped grab the attention (and the money) of about a hundred thousand gamers worldwide between crowdfunding and early access. Apparently, Hollywood executives were among them, as Variety has reported that a We Happy Few movie is in the works at Gold Circle Films.
Currently, Gold Circle's Paul Brooks and dj2 Entertainment's CEO Dimitri M. Johnson and Chief Content Officer Dan Jevons are lined up to produce, with dj2's Stephan Bugaj serving as executive producer.
“Dmitri, Stephan, and Dan approached us enthusiastically with really solid ideas about how to adapt our game to film while retaining its menace, dark humor, and central themes," Compulsion lead developer Guillaume Provost told Variety. Johnson has also informed the publication that he intends to "Make a movie that remains true to the source material, while still surprising fans.”
While Gold Circle Films hasn't produced a video game adaptation in the past, they have put out their fair share of horror films in the past, including James Gunn's (Guardians of the Galaxy) directorial debut, Slither. There is currently no screenwriter, director, or release date announced for the We Happy Few movie.
Quick Take
Remember when we had to actually wait for the game to come out before inevitably mediocre film adaptations were announced? Yeah, me too.All jokes aside, I can't say much other than the fact that producers and IP mean basically nothing. While usually I'd hold out on waiting for a director and screenwriter to be lined up before passing judgement considering the godawful track record of video game adaptations (and Gold Circle Entertainment's track record of poorly received genre flicks, save Slither), I'm not expecting this to come into anything good.
Just watch Brazil instead.
