I don't want to say it's a bad idea to adapt a great short film into a feature, as it's been done quite well in the past (12 Monkeys; Bottle Rocket), but when a concept is concisely wrapped up in the span of two and a half minutes, it's hard to see where it could be expanded to 40 times as long. That's the case with Patrick Jean's Pixels, which made the Internet rounds (including here) a month ago. Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison, reportedly bought the rights to the film, and now they're talking with Columbia Pictures about developing a longer, 3D version.There's no doubt the movie will overextend the once cute and clever bits involving classic arcade game characters, like Donkey Kong and Frogger, destroying NYC. And obviously it won't end the same way, with the whole world becoming one giant pixel. But I'm imagining the worst case scenario: Jean's original reminded me of the montage from Ghostbusters after Peck shuts down the containment unit and all the spirits stream out across the five boroughs. So this could be like that, with a team of 8-bit busters who must save the day. Of course that team is played by Sandler, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Chris Rock.
And instead of a containment unit, the characters somehow escape from the popular Brooklyn spot Barcade (which is what it sounds like, a bar/arcade). I could go on and on with the good and bad ideas, and we can be excited or worried about what Pixels is going to end up like. But I do wonder if this thing could possibly ever happen even if a screenwriter can figure out how to make a story out of the short. I mean, it's great that Happy Madison bought the rights to Jean's film, but what about all the characters? There are a lot more rights that need securing here. And the matter of how it might affect Avi Arad's supposed plans to make a Pac-Man movie.
In case you missed Pixels the first time around, here it is. See if you can think of a good way to make it into a feature.
