The deal between toy giants Hasbro and film studio Universal is starting to look like a sinking ship as more and more projects are taken away. Yesterday, we brought word of Relativity Media scooping up **Stretch Armstrong (and leaving proposed star Taylor Lautner bobbing in its development wake) and today there's news that Hasbro is taking Candy Land to Sony, where Adam Sander's Happy Madison production company is waiting with open arms.
While there's been no official announcement, it would seem the plan is for Sandler to star in the new film, which Enchanted's Kevin Lima is still attached to direct. When it was first announced, Tropic Thunder's Etan Cohen was on script patrol. Now, though, Sandler is going to do a rewrite, working with regular collaborator Robert Smigel.
What tone they'll take with the movie is anyone's guess, though we figure they'll head down the **Bedtime Stories **family comedy route, blending a live action Sandler with the fantastical candy setting.
This clearly indicates Sony looking to find another Smurfs-level success, and the game fits the bill in terms of the target audience. Candy Land was birthed back in the 1940s, aimed at providing gentle entertainment for young kids as they followed a path driven by colour-coded cards through such locales as Candy Cane Forest and Gum Drop Mountain (weirdly, that one is twinned with Mount Doom in Mordor). Characters who cropped up along the way (and that may also feature in the eventual film) included Queen Frostine, Gramma Nutt and Gloppy the Chocolate Monster. Frankly, they all sound like they belong in a Sandler comedy anyway.
This means that the only Hasbro tie-in that Universal is definitely bringing to screens is Battleship, which invades over here on April 11.