There’s a The Sims movie in the works, and it’s already signed up some major star-power in the form of Margot ‘Barbie’ Robbie’s production company and the director behind Marvel show Loki and the upcoming second season of The Last of Us. EA’s on board, too.
The news of The Sims film comes via the Hollywood Reporter, which, uh, reports that the big-screen debut for the enormously popular life-simulation series is being helmed by Kate Herron as director. Herron’s impressive credits include all of the first season of Loki, the first season of acclaimed Netflix series Sex Education and at least one episode of next year’s The Last of Us Season 2.
Joining Herron as co-writer will be her frequent collaborator Briony Redman, with whom she’s worked on an upcoming episode of the next season of Doctor Who, reuniting them with Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa as the latest Doctor.
If you’re wondering exactly how The Sims – a game about doing pretty much anything and just living life – might be made into silver screen material, some folks who might have a good idea are attached to the project, too.
Margot Robbie’s production company LuckyChap, which produced the Robbie-starring Barbie (you may have heard of it), will produce the Sims movie. Hopefully The Sims will continue their streak of turning bemused disbelief about whether a franchise without any real story or notable characters (no disrespect to the Goths and Roomies) could ever be decent into delighted surprise at how they use the wide-open potential that provides. I’m guessing we probably won’t see a robber drowning in a ladder-less pool or someone burning to death in a doorless kitchen, but you never know. (After all, LuckyChap also produced Saltburn.)
Helping LuckyChap to strike the right tone will be co-producers Roy Lee and Miri Yoon, who have handled the likes of the Lego films and are also working on the Minecraft movie, and even EA themselves, with the publishers contributing in what’s said to be a “creative and producing capacity”.
There’s no word on when the Sims movie will arrive, though it’s presumably at least a year or two away while we wait on news of a cast. Any suggestions?