Pac-Man is a creature, we think: an all-mouth being who can do nothing to quench his infinite appetite no matter how much he eats, even as he is pursued by ghosts and trapped in a maze from which there is no escape. Bandai Namco wants to turn that premise into a family comedy, The Hollywood Reporter notes, announcing a “live-action” adaptation that will either haunt our dreams or ignore the meaning of the words “live-action.”
Pac-Man will be based on an idea from Sonic the Hedgehog producer Chuck Williams, though it’s not known if he’s one of the people responsible for that terror beyond mortal comprehension, Sonic with teeth. No plot details are known and no talent is attached — the project doesn’t exist, except in the fevered imaginations of men who see their hunger for money reflected in Pac-Man’s hunger for pellets.
The 1980 video game Pac-Man began as a study of strange geometries, as the all-consuming mouth raced from one end of the maze to another in a gluttonous frenzy. The game spawned several sequels, including Ms. Pac-Man, as well as a string of short-lived television series, such as a two-season run in 1982-83, and Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures from 2013-15. None caused mass panic, perhaps because none had the hubris to depict Pac-Man’s true, live-action form. We’re not a praying website, but when it comes to this film, dear God, let that yellow horror stay animated.