After the success of G.I. Joe it seems that Hasbro is keen to cash in on every property it’s got. Variety are reporting that they have just signed up Peter Berg to helm Battleship. That’s right, a movie adaptation of the board game.

Read more after the break…

What sounded like a joke at first is now starting to become reality. As part of a multiyear deal with Hasbro, Universal have set a release date of July 1, 2011 for Battleship and hope to begin production next Spring.

Other than Battleship, Universal will also be developing: Stretch Armstrong, Clue (or Cluedo as us Brits know it) with Gore Verbinski, Monopoly with Ridley Scott, Candyland with Kevin Lima and Ouija with Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes.

Now is it just me or does this idea sound really, really crappy? How can you turn a board game into a movie? I seriously thought this was some kind of a joke. And what baffles me is how they got Ridley Scott and Gore Verbinski involved. Did they sell their souls to Universal?

A clue in the Variety report is that Berg has agreed to make Battleship as part of a deal to follow with Afghan war drama Lone Survivor.

Berg says:

It was pretty obvious to me they weren’t jumping head over heels to make a war film in the Middle East right now,” Berg said. “So they said, ‘what if you give us Battleship for July 2011, and we guarantee you’ll follow with Lone Survivor?’ I already loved the take we had on Battleship, so that wasn’t a hard deal to make.

So in agreeing to do this, the studio will let him do something of his own choosing. Perhaps Scott and Verbinski made similar deals? … *cough* Sellouts *cough*

I can’t imagine how they’re going to turn Battleship into anything other than a basic naval action thriller. In which case why bother attaching the Battleship name to it? The only possible resemblance to the board game will be the title and the catchphrase ‘you sunk my battleship’.

Anyone disagree with me? Do you think this is a good idea?