Peter Berg’s Battleship Set for July 2011
Universal has set Peter Berg (Hancock) to direct “Battleship,” a live-action adaptation of Hasbro’s board game.
According to Variety, Berg joins “Battleship” as part of his two-picture deal he made with Universal Pictures; the other film is the Afghan war drama “Lone Survivor.”
For Berg, the picture realizes a passion for ship-bound war stories that he picked up from his naval historian father.
“I’ve been consumed with doing one of these since I tried to convince Tom Rothman at Fox to make a film about John Paul Jones, the founder of the American Navy,” Berg said. “As a kid, I was dragged from Navy museum to museum, and spent so much time on ships, listening to my father talk about the great battles of WWII, I did my high school thesis on the Battle of Midway. When this came up, it didn’t take me long to find a take for a film that is filled with raucous action-packed naval battles.”
Peter Berg In Talks to Direct “Battleship”
THR is reporting that Peter Berg may be signing on to direct a big screen adaptation of the classic Hasbro board game Battleship.
Berg (Hancock, The Kingdom, Friday Night Lights, The Rundown) is in discussions with Universal Studios about bringing the popular game to the screen.
Jon and Erich Hoeber have also signed on to pen the script. Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir are producing for Hasbro, while Dylan Clark and Anikah McLaren producing for Universal Studios.
The game, which began in pencil and paper form in the early 20th century and is now available on platforms from cell phones to computers, consists of two players arranging a variety of ships on a grid. The game proceeds in alternating salvos as players try to “sink” the opposition’s ships by guessing where they sit on the grid.
While plot details are being kept under wraps, the studio is looking to make an epic naval action adventure.
