I have always been fascinated by the American Gladiators TV Show. Those average joe athlete wannabes facing off against carefully marketed beefy defenders and mostly feminine amazons. I think it plays more to my desire to play with those wonderful toys and giant nerf Q-Tips. But it is just a lot of fun. Like old school professional wrestling without all the soap opera.
Well word is that they are trying to make it into a feature film. Yup, the only game show with testosterone as an ingredient will be making its way to the big screen.
Scott Mednick, former Legendary Pictures chief marketing officer and confirmed producer on the adaptation told Variety that “the goal is to create an action story that takes place inside the world Ferraro has created.” Exactly what world he’s referring to is anyone’s guess. “American Gladiators” has always been a game show. The titular musclebound gladiators all sport short, punchy pseudonyms like “Blaze” and “Laser,” but there’s no fiction built around them. The series has always been a physical challenge-oriented game show in which contestants compete against one another while fending off the ever-disruptive gladiators.
A little trivia about American Gladiators was original concieved as a feature film idea but was marketed as a game show instead.
I would think that Gladiators would work well as an almost remake of The Running Man, but portraying the game show as the badguy may not reflect well on the TV Show.
It seems a little like they are grasping on a simple concept to build an entire movie around it. Like making Monopoly: The Movie, or Price is Right: The Movie.
I guess we will have to wait to see what kind of plot synopsis they come up with. Maybe VanDamme is forced to enter the competition under the threat that his daughter will be killed if he doesn’t win. But he will manage to save the girl and win the game show for a freeze frame fist in the air finish!
