Sony Pictures to Adapt Hasbro’s Risk into Feature Film

CULVER CITY: Sony Pictures Entertainment has taken on the motion-picture rights from Hasbro to produce Risk, based on the classic board game. 

The film will be produced and developed by Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir and Overbrook Entertainment’s James Lassiter. The movie will be based on the board game, which was invented in 1957 by French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse as La Conquete du Monde (The Conquest of the World). Two years later, Parker Brothers published the game in the U.S. as Risk. In the game, players compete on a map of the world, amassing armies in an attempt at world domination. The object is to occupy every territory on the board, eliminating all other players while doing so. 

Doug Belgrad, co-president of Colombia Pictures, said, "Hasbro has already seen tremendous success with Transformers and G.I. Joe and audiences have shown a great desire for films that bring to life everything that has made these franchise properties stand the test of time. The strategic thinking and the tactical gambles that players must take in the game are what make Risk a classic, thoroughly engaging game. Those elements translated into an action-packed, thrilling story are what will make this a uniquely exciting movie."

Lassiter, Overbrook Entertainment’s co-founder, added, "We are excited to be working with Hasbro and Columbia Pictures on bringing such a beloved and well-known game to life on the big screen. We have two television projects currently in development with Hasbro Studios and look forward to this collaboration."

"We are thrilled to be working with tremendous partners like Sony Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment on Risk," commented Goldner, the president and CEO of Hasbro. "Like so many of Hasbro’s brands, Risk resonates with consumers of multiple generations around the world. We can’t wait to reimagine this brand into a motion picture."