Category: Tom Ackerley

Margot Robbie is set to produce the film version of iconic board game, Monopoly – but the premise has left fans baffled.

The 33-year-old Barbie star’s production company LuckyChap – also comprised of and partners Tom Ackerley and Josie McNamara – alongside Monopoly backers Hasbro Entertainment will produce the live-action feature film, per Variety.

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson revealed LuckyChap has ‘a clear point of view’ on the Monopoly movie – which includes characters such as Rich Uncle Pennybags – during a speech at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

Fogelson said: ‘I could not imagine a better production team for this beloved and iconic brand than LuckyChap. They are exceptional producers who choose their projects with great thought and care, and join Monopoly with a clear point of view. 

‘We are tremendously excited to be working with the entire LuckyChap team on what we all believe can be their next blockbuster.’

Barbie star Margot Robbie is set to produce the film version of iconic board game, Monopoly – but the premise has left fans baffled

The 33-year-old Barbie star’s production company LuckyChap – also comprised of and partners Tom Ackerley and Josie McNamara – alongside Monopoly backers Hasbro Entertainment will produce the live-action feature film, per Variety

LuckyChap said in a statement: ‘Monopoly is a top property — pun fully intended. Like all of the best IP, this game has resonated worldwide for generations, and we are so excited to bring this game to life alongside the wonderful teams involved at Lionsgate and Hasbro.’

Hasbro Entertainment’s head of film Zev Foreman said: ‘As one of the most iconic games in the world, Monopoly provides an incredible platform for storytelling opportunities. We are thrilled to have the unique vision of LuckyChap and Lionsgate alongside us to bring this historic piece of popular culture to the big screen.’

James Myers will oversee Monopoly on behalf of the studio.

LuckyChap will be hoping to recreate the monster success  of Barbie – which became the highest-grossing movie of 2023 a month after it was released in cinemas last year.

The blockbuster – which stars Robbie and Ryan Gosling – has passed The Super Mario Bros. Movie at the global box office, and the film has now brought in a total of $1.36 billion since its release in July.

The smash hit movie has also become the highest grossing film in Warner Bros history.

Fans were left confused over the premise of the Monopoly movie, with one writing: ‘Most likely a lecture about how capitalism is horrible and that socialism is the way instead of some FUN movie.’

LuckyChap will be hoping to recreate the monster success of Barbie – which became the highest-grossing movie of 2023 a month after it was released in cinemas last year

The blockbuster – which stars Robbie and Ryan Gosling – has passed The Super Mario Bros. Movie at the global box office, and the film has now brought in a total of $1.36 billion since its release in July

Another wrote: ‘The movie will be five hours long, and people will quit before it’s over’ while a third penned: ‘Wonder if it will be about the crushing weight of capitalism or just the monopoly man grinding real estate.’

Another fan wrote: ‘Millions of original stories out there waiting to be told, but Robbie’s like nope what we need is a Monopoly guy movie. F**k off with this.’

‘Ain’t nobody wanna watch a film about Monopoly. They really said “Let’s make a boring movie about a boring board game”

Monopoly was originally designed to warn players about the dangers of capitalism – but it ended up celebrating getting rich.

The first version of the board game was called ‘The Landlord’s Game’ and was supposed to show the unfairness of private property ownership.

It was created in 1902 by Elizabeth Magie who believed in fairer taxation and wanted a single tax on land ownership to replace all other taxes.  

She thought it was grossly unfair that landlords raked in profits by passively owning land and wanted to change it.

The board game she called ‘The Landlord’s Game’ was essentially a satire and she thought that when people played it they would ‘see clearly the gross injustice of our present land system’. How wrong she was.

In her original version players used paper money to buy utilities and property, just like the modern game.

But instead of passing ‘Go’ and collecting $200, you passed a square marked ‘Labor upon Mother Earth produces wages’ and got $100.

Fans were left confused by what the film’s premise could be 

One corner of the board was marked ‘No Trespassing. Go to Jail’ which she said was owned by a British lord and was to signify ‘foreign ownership of American soil’.

Magie patented The Landlord’s Game in 1904 and approached board game makers Parker Brothers, but they turned it down, saying it was too complicated.  

Meanwhile, the game spread around the country – people made their own versions with paper – until it found its way to Charles Darrow in Philadelphia in 1933.

He was shown the game by his friend Charles Todd and promptly stole the idea and passed it off as his own, adding some more color to the board and suggesting people use small household objects as playing tokens.

During the 1930s it began to sell steadily at stores such as FAO Schwarz until in 1935 Parker Brothers decided to buy it from Darrow for $7,000 – worth more than $120,000 today.

Parker Brothers added playing pieces including a shoe, a top hat and an iron, the Chance and Community Chest cards and a cartoon character who was called Mr Monopoly, which spawned the game’s new name.

The firm tried to patent the game, but realized that Darrow did not actually own it.

They had to pay $10,000 to Daniel Lyman, who had patented his own version called Finance.

Monopoly was originally designed to warn players about the dangers of capitalism – but it ended up celebrating getting rich 

They also tracked down Magie, who was living in Arlington, Virginia and paid her $500 with a commitment that they would make a version of The Landlord’s Game.

Darrow meanwhile made millions, even after Parker Brothers reduced his royalties.

In 1939 when Parker Brothers eventually made The Landlord’s Game it bombed and most of the 10,000 copies were returned. Magie would no doubt have been heartbroken.