Ridley Scott’s pitch for his unmade Monopoly movie is revealed by Seth Rogen. Scott burst onto the directing scene withAlienin 1979 and he would go on to direct a number of iconic films, includingBlade Runner(1982),Thelma & Louise(1991),Gladiator(2000), andBlack Hawk Down(2001). Now 87 years old, Scott remains as active as ever as a filmmaker, recently releasing movies likeGladiator 2(2024),Napoleon(2023), andThe Last Duel(2021), in addition to executive producing projects likeAlien: Romulus(2024),Prime Target(2025), andDope Thief(2025).
In a recent interview withVarietyto promote his new Apple TV+ series,The Studio, Rogen recalls one Scott project that didn’t end up coming to fruition.The actor reveals thathe had meeting with Scott in which he was pitched a clever movie take on the Monopoly board game. Rogen recalls the pitch “verbatim,” revealing that Scott’s vision had him hooked. Check out his recollection of the meeting below:
“It was a meeting with Ridley Scott. He was going to direct the ‘Monopoly’ movie, and me and Evan [Goldberg] went into his office and he said, ‘Imagine a helicopter shot of Central Park. You’re looking down on it from above. You pull up, you see all the buildings surrounding Central Park. What does it look like?’ And then he said, ‘A Monopoly board!’ And were like, ‘F**k, that’s good.'”
Rogen then reveals that a number of other board games – and products of all kinds – have been pitched as movie ideas, and many of them didn’t resonate:
“I think there was a ‘Hungry Hungry Hippos’ movie in development for a while. Kool-Aid is not far off from what is actually floating around the halls of this place by any stretch of the imagination. I think we’ve been pitched every brand. I feel like there was a ‘Doritos’ movie at some point.”
What Scott’s Pitch Means For The Monopoly Movie
A Movie Based On The Board Game Is In The Works
Rogen’s story coincides with the premiere ofThe Studioon Apple TV+, and the show opens with a bit involving toy brands and board games and the potential for them to be exploited in movie adaptations. Though used as comedy fodder in the show, there is actually alive-actionMonopolymoviein development from Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment and Lionsgate. The adaptation of the beloved board game was first announced in April 2024, withJohn Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) tapped to write the screenplay.
Margot Robbie’s Monopoly Movie Can Bring Back The Original Real-Life Meaning Of The Game
Margot Robbie’s upcoming film adaptation of the Monopoly board game needs to draw from the history and original intent behind the boardgame.
The announcement followed the massivesuccess ofBarbie(2023), which, of course, is based on the iconic Mattel doll. Toys of all sorts continue to be potential sources for movie adaptations, andBarbie’s critical and commercial success suggested to studios that there is a great deal of money to be made with the use of this kind of IP. There’s no director on board for Robbie’sMonopolymovie just yet, but Scott seemingly has his hands full with other projects, including a post-apocalyptic feature calledThe Dog Stars, which will star Jacob Elordi.
Filming onThe Dog Starsis reportedly set to start in April in Italy, with Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley having also joined the cast.
Our Take On Scott’s Unmade Monopoly Movie
It Would Have Been A Scott Career Outlier
Scott is a prolific producer, meaningeven if he didn’t direct theMonopolyfilm he could produce it. In any case, such a movie would be an interesting departure for the filmmaker, who has spent much of his career making gritty and violent movies. In fact, the last time Scott made something that could be described as “family-friendly entertainment” was back in 2015 withThe Martian.
This might be for the best, as Scott clearly has many other interests, andBarbie’s success suggests Robbie could be the right person to shepherd this adaptation along.
Given his currently in-development projects and the fact that Robbie is developing her own Monopoly movie,Scott’s take on the board seems unlikely to ever come to fruition. This might be for the best, as Scott clearly has many other interests, andBarbie’s success suggests Robbie could be the right person to shepherd this adaptation along. Though the ship has sailed on aScottMonopoly movie, it’s clear that Rogen was impressed with the idea.
