File this one squarely under “unnecessary.” During an interview with IGN, Toy Story scribes Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen (not Coen) hinted that they’re currently in talks to write a Farmville movie. As they said:
“So, yes, we will continue writing movies. We are also working on several new and very exciting opportunities. We’re in conversations with Zynga to do something with one of their brands. Can’t really say too much on that front yet, but ‘Old MacDonald’ didn’t have a factory, if you get our drift.”
For the lucky few who don’t know, Zynga is a social network games developer who make video games that are light on story and heavy on addictive repetition. (They’re the reason all your friends sent you annoying Mafia Wars invites a few years ago.) In addition to helping with Toy Story, Sokolow and Cohen also wrote the Garfield movies, and though writing scripts about toys that come to life or a talking cat is one thing, it’ll be tough to pull some kind of story out of Farmville‘s limited premise. A synopsis of the game, from Wikipedia:
Upon beginning a farm, the player first creates a customizable avatar which may be changed at any point The player begins with an empty farm and a fixed starting amount of “farm coins”, the primary currency in the game. Players also earn XP (experience points) for performing certain actions in the game such as plowing land or buying items. At certain XP benchmarks, the player’s level rises. As the player obtains more items and progresses through levels, crops and animals become available to them via the “market” where items can be purchased using either farm coins or “farm cash”. Farm cash is earned by leveling up or completing offers, or purchased for real money.
I don’t get it. If you’re going to make a movie about a farm, why does it have to be Farmville? The game is as generic as they come. At least the Angry Birds movie currently in development will have a cute cast of characters and something of a story to draw from; Farmville has nothing but a farm. Are people really more likely to buy tickets on opening weekend if the movie has something they’re familiar with in the title, no matter what that thing may be?
Though the project has not been formally announced, the fact that we’re even hearing about this probably means someone in Hollywood is spending money to send this movie toward production, and that’s money another movie isn’t going to get. Somewhere out there, a movie isn’t getting made because Farmville is. Think about that next time you water your digital crops.
Farmville or Angry Birds: Which will make a better movie?