War Games Remake In Development

Do you want to play a game?

MGM appears to have bounced back from near liquidation with a zeal to remake, remake, remake. The company  – which is currently developing a RoboCop remake with Jose (Elite Squad) Padilha directing, and a Carrie remake with a script by Roberto (Big Love) Aguirre-Sacasa – is now looking to resurrect the 1983 computer hacking thriller War Games.

According to Deadline, MGM has hired Noah Oppenheim to write the script for War Games, with Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon attached to call the shots. Oppenheim, a former producer of TV news shows, entered the world of movie writing  with his script for Jackie, a film about Jackie O that’s still in development by Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa production company. Oppenheim also scripted Maze Runner for Fox and Houdini for Summit Entertainment.

The original film starred Matthew Broderick as a teenager who accidentally hacked into the US military system thinking he’s playing a game, and consequently almost triggers nuclear war between Russia and America. You can’t help thinking, though, that with the differences in a) games technology, b) digital security and c) the world’s political situation between 1983 and 2013 (or whenever they’re planning to get the film released), a 21st century War Games will have to be a very different beast indeed to its predecessor.