Mafia Wars jumping from Facebook to the big screen

UPDATE – Consider this rumor busted. Radar Pictures told The Hollywood Reporter that news of a “Mafia Wars” movie has “no basis in reality.” No idea how exactly the rumor got started…

Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.

Just when I think I’m immune to absurd movie news, something like this comes along. According to Pajiba, we are about to get our first Facebook/iPhone application turned into a movie in the form of Zynga’s MAFIA WARS.

For the uninitiated, i.e. those without a Facebook News Feed, Mafia Wars is a game where you do missions, level up, buy weapons, get more mafia members, and attack other people. But it’s not really a video game in the traditional sense, as its closer to a text-based adventure, with no actual combat to be found. You could try and call it a turn based RPG, but outside of leveling and weapons purchases, attacking is only one turn, and you either win or lose in a spectacularly un-epic fashion.

I actually played this game on my iPhone for a long, long time, as it was simply something to do whenever I was bored somewhere. But I got to level 170-something, had more money than God and more weapons than the entire country of Colombia, and it was just boring. It was essentially, “press this button to level up,” and it got to the point where I’d rather stare at a wall than check Mafia Wars.

But the merits of the game aside, I think players and non-players alike can agree the a FILM adaptation of the title is clearly absurd. But alas, Ted Field and Radar Pictures are turning the app into a movie which promises to be a “crime thriller based on the popular video game.” And that’s really all there is to say about it apparently.

Here’s what I don’t understand about these idiotic licensed property films. How the hell is this going to be “based on the popular video game” which has literally no plot to speak of? Why can’t you just make a movie about warring Mafia factions, and leave the Facebook app out of it? I’ve said the same thing about a naval combat film that doesn’t need a BATTLESHIP license or a space combat movie that doesn’t need to be based on ASTEROIDS. Is Zynga paying someone to make a movie about their game for publicity? I don’t understand the process here.

As crazy as this is, I’m still waiting for something to top the promised VIEWMASTER movie.

Source: Pajiba

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