By Jackie Shannon
Admit it, you’ve been dreaming about this for years. Yes, Fruit Ninja – stop pretending that you’ve never played it – is set to be turned into a movie. In the popular game (which was developed by the Australian company, Halfbrick Studios, which was kick started by six outside-the-box thinkers in a Brisbane basement back in 2001), the player has to, well, cut up pieces of fruit being hurled at them as quickly as possible. And that’s kind of about it. But before you tear open your scalp scratching your head about what kind of form said movie could actually take, remember that films have been based upon far more slender premises, like Super Mario Bros., GI Joe, and Fifty Shades of Grey. And also remember that the very idea of The LEGO Movie prompted instant sneering giggles.
Fruit Ninja has been set up at mini major, New Line, with the amusingly named Tripp Vinson (Journey To The Center Of The Earth, San Andreas) set to produce, and screenwriting duo, J.P. Lavin and Chad Damiani (How To Survive A Garden Gnome Attack) penning the script. The live action family film will revolve around a team of misfits who are recruited to become Fruit Ninjas in order to save the world. As the second-highest-selling iOS game of all time, with over 1 billion downloads, the merchandising and money-making opportunities are sadly endless. Rumours that the film is being rushed into production in order to qualify for next year’s Oscars are totally unfounded.
