The popular puzzle game Myst once again has a shot to become a major multimedia universe. Village Roadshow just acquired the rights to the game and plans on developing it for both scripted and unscripted television and film.
If that sounds familiar, you’re right. Legendary TV was in talks to turn it into a series.
Five before that, a movie was in development. There were even talks of Disney turning it into its own theme park. And while we aren’t sure what, exactly, happened in any of those cases, obviously they didn’t materialise. Instead, it seems the rights were once again up for grabs and now, Village Roadshow has stepped in.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Village Roadshow will take on a ‘full-scale approach’ to developing Myst content, utilising its entire creative team to adapt the properties across film and TV.”
The franchise has more than enough content to do that with. Though it began with a single 1993 computer game, Myst became a household name in the years that followed thanks to multiple sequel and spinoff games as well as comic books, novels and more.
Now, as is the case with any major brand attempting the jump between different forms of media, the whole thing hinges on coming up with the right ideas – ideas that Village Roadshow can get excited enough about to spend more money to actually bring them to life. The source material and lush visual look are there.
But, as has been proved in the past, adaptation won’t be easy. If it works, though, Myst has the potential to be something truly great yet again.