Hey, remember the Gizmondo? No? I don't blame you. It was a handheld video game system that came out back in 2005 and tried to compete with the big boys (Nintendo and Sony), only to become one of the worst commercial flops in recent years. There have since been some sketchy rumours about a next-gen Gizmondo in development, but now it looks like the system may be making a comeback of a different sort: on the big screen! That's right, director Craig Zobel and producer Beau Flynn believe that the story behind this epic fail is fit for a feature film, and you know what? I actually agree with them. The movie, tentatively titled Gizmondo, will be based on a Wired Magazine article [1] about Swedish co-creator/con artist Bo Stefan Eriksson, who had ties to organized crime and was eventually charged for embezzlement, grand theft auto, cocaine possession, and weapons charges,...
- 4/30/2009
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
- I imagine that when you have a breakout indie hit and you collect Gotham and Indie Spirit award noms by the boatload then you have scripts tossed at you like you were the bench-warming, jockstrap receiving equipment manager for a football team. After being attached to Loudermilk and Turkey in the Straw, Craig Zobel (who we profiled in an interview for Great World of Sound) is still taking offers, and this one is coincidentally about another “con job”. THR reports that Contrafilm's Tripp Vinson and Beau Flynn have set Zobel to adapt the project for the big screen. Based on an October 2006 Wired article by Randall Sullivan titled "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up" about Swedish con artist Bo Stefan Eriksson, who, among other stunts, wrecked a million-dollar Ferrari Enzo going 160 mph on Pacific Coast Highway above Malibu in February 2006. Eriksson previously had launched a hand-held video game company, Gizmondo,
- 4/30/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Writer-director Craig Zobel and producer Beau Flynn want to tell you the story behind "Gizmondo."
Flynn has optioned an October 2006 Wired article by Randall Sullivan titled "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up" that Zobel brought to him. Zobel will write the screenplay to direct, and Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm will produce.
The article focuses on Swedish con artist Bo Stefan Eriksson, who, among other stunts, wrecked a million-dollar Ferrari Enzo going 160 mph on Pacific Coast Highway above Malibu in February 2006.
Eriksson previously had launched a hand-held video game company, Gizmondo, that ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Allegedly once a figure in organized crime, he has been in and out of Swedish and U.S. jails for fraud, extortion, auto theft, embezzlement, kidnapping and other charges.
Eriksson had been deported after leaving jail in January 2008 and was arrested again in March.
"He just keeps giving," Flynn joked.
Contrafilm last produced the 3-D adventure...
Flynn has optioned an October 2006 Wired article by Randall Sullivan titled "Gizmondo's Spectacular Crack-up" that Zobel brought to him. Zobel will write the screenplay to direct, and Flynn and Tripp Vinson of Contrafilm will produce.
The article focuses on Swedish con artist Bo Stefan Eriksson, who, among other stunts, wrecked a million-dollar Ferrari Enzo going 160 mph on Pacific Coast Highway above Malibu in February 2006.
Eriksson previously had launched a hand-held video game company, Gizmondo, that ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Allegedly once a figure in organized crime, he has been in and out of Swedish and U.S. jails for fraud, extortion, auto theft, embezzlement, kidnapping and other charges.
Eriksson had been deported after leaving jail in January 2008 and was arrested again in March.
"He just keeps giving," Flynn joked.
Contrafilm last produced the 3-D adventure...
- 4/29/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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