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Hollywood is producing a Monopoly 'origins movie' about the board game's unknown ‘David and Goliath’ story

Whether it will feature people collecting £200 for passing go is unknown at this point

Jack Shepherd
Wednesday 28 October 2015 13:52 GMT
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Natalie advocates mortgaging everything to buy more property
Natalie advocates mortgaging everything to buy more property (Getty Images)

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To say Hollywood is running out of ideas at this point would be an understatement. The most recent, absolutely ridiculous ‘origin story’ to go into development is a film based on the popular board game, Monopoly.

That’s right. A film about the origins of Monopoly. Let that sink in for a moment.

According to Deadline, the film will be based on Mary Pilon’s best-selling non-fiction book The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favourite Board Game.

The book tells the unknown story behind Monopoly, and how Elizabeth Magie sold the game - originally called The Landlords Game, created to lash out against slumlords and other monopolists of the early 20th Century - for just $500 to the Parker Brothers.

Ralph Anspach, who invented the game Anti-Monopoly, will also play a major part in the film, his book The Billion Dollar Monopoly Swindle. In the book, he tells of how he was sued by the Parker Brothers, in what’s being sold as a ‘David and Goliath’ story.

Big Beach will develop the film, with Howard A. Rodman, who wrote Joe Gould's Secret, creating the film’s script. Producers Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf said the film will be “a rich tale full of fascinating characters and an unexpected origin story behind the beloved game.”

The company is best known for the film Little Miss Sunshine. No release date for the Monopoly film as yet.

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