Cobalt Knight is adapting one of the most popular board games today called Terraforming Mars for the screen.
Terraforming Mars is the board game that Jacob Fryxelius designed with Isaac Fryxelius’ art. Its release was back in 2016. The game itself is a resource management strategy game that focuses on terraforming the planet. Each player represents large corporations. And each one can try to alter the planetary conditions. Such conditions are raising the temperature, oxygen level and ocean coverage of the formerly dead planet. The game considers each turn as a generation. Thereby supporting the idea that terraforming takes many years to process.
The game has received several awards for multiple years. And the industry currently rates it at top 6th tabletop game of all time at BoardGameGeek. In fact, it has been translated to a video game on the PC in 2018.
As reported by Deadline, the popular board game is now in development for a screen adaptation. Cobalt Knight which Christopher Kaminski and Christopher Knox founded, has bought the rights for Terraforming Mars. The company itself is relatively new with all titles still in development. Gamers know Kaminski for titles like Armored Core 4, Valkyria Chronicles and MadWorld. While Knox has his credits for the TV series, I Faked My Own Death (2011).
Terraforming Mars Movie Adaptation In The Works with Cobalt Knight
Kaminski said:
The Terraforming Mars world offers incredible storytelling potential. We are excited to explore the unique human drama that inherently comes along with running a company tasked with literally creating oceans, building prosperous cities, and balancing the ecology of plant and animal life.
Knox have added:
In many ways, the game exhibits strong parallels to the Age of Discovery when European superpowers were sailing around the globe trying to lay claim to everything they touched. This makes it the perfect choice for adaptation, using a distinct and hyperrealistic setting to revisit a familiar narrative conflict.
As a board gamer myself I am a little hesitant on how the screen adaptation will work out. So far, the only movie that I have enjoyed that production translated from a board game to film was Clue (1985). The film was an all-star cast that included Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd. There are several board game adaptations, but many don’t fare well. Like the action movie Battleship or Dungeons and Dragons, which has reviews that range from bad to terrible. On the other hand, a reboot of Dungeons and Dragons is coming soon with Chris Pine as the lead. So far trailers aren’t bad, but I still am reserved on what to expect of it.
Terraforming Mars Movie Adaptation In The Works with Cobalt Knight
In regard to Terraforming Mars, what made me curious and wonder how this game will be made into a movie or series is the length of time it needs. Remember that a turn that lasts a few minutes is a generation in the game. From what I understand a generation doesn’t have an exact number, but it is roughly 20-30 years. But the multiple giant companies trying to improve the life on Mars is a fascinating concept.
Enoch Fryxelius, brother of Jacob and CEO of FryxGames:
Jacob and the rest of us brothers have invested many years in Terraforming Mars. It’s much more than just another sci-fi board game – it’s a vision of a possible and positive future for humanity not so far down the road. It’s based on real science ideas and ideas borrowed from science fiction. This could be us in 200 years. We are so excited to see this vision come to life on the screen. We hope this will expand the TM community even further. And we hope that more people will be gripped by the vision of a new home for humanity on Mars.
While we wait for more developments for the screen adaptation of Terraforming Mars, Cobalt Knight is developing The Dream Lodge and Mantis. While FryxGames has other board games like After the Virus, Wilderness, Space Station, Brawling Barons, and Fleets – The Pleiad Conflict.
