Ridley Scott’s Unmade Monopoly Movie & Story Pitch Recalled By Seth Rogen

Ridley Scott

‘s pitch for his unmade Monopoly movie is revealed by Seth Rogen. Scott burst onto the directing scene with Alien in 1979 and he would go on to direct a number of iconic films, including Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2000), and Black Hawk Down (2001). Now 87 years old, Scott remains as active as ever as a filmmaker, recently releasing movies like Gladiator 2 (2024), Napoleon (2023), and The Last Duel (2021), in addition to executive producing projects like Alien: Romulus (2024), Prime Target (2025), and Dope Thief (2025).

In a recent interview with Variety to promote his new Apple TV+ series, The Studio, Rogen recalls one Scott project that didn’t end up coming to fruition. The actor reveals that he had meeting with Scott in which he was pitched a clever movie take on the Monopoly board game. Rogen recalls the pitch “verbatim,” revealing that Scott’s vision had him hooked. Check out his recollection of the meeting below:

“It was a meeting with Ridley Scott. He was going to direct the ‘Monopoly’ movie, and me and Evan [Goldberg] went into his office and he said, ‘Imagine a helicopter shot of Central Park. You’re looking down on it from above. You pull up, you see all the buildings surrounding Central Park. What does it look like?’ And then he said, ‘A Monopoly board!’ And were like, ‘F**k, that’s good.’”

Rogen then reveals that a number of other board games – and products of all kinds – have been pitched as movie ideas, and many of them didn’t resonate:

“I think there was a ‘Hungry Hungry Hippos’ movie in development for a while. Kool-Aid is not far off from what is actually floating around the halls of this place by any stretch of the imagination. I think we’ve been pitched every brand. I feel like there was a ‘Doritos’ movie at some point.”

What Scott’s Pitch Means For The Monopoly Movie

A Movie Based On The Board Game Is In The Works

Rogen’s story coincides with the premiere of The Studio on Apple TV+, and the show opens with a bit involving toy brands and board games and the potential for them to be exploited in movie adaptations. Though used as comedy fodder in the show, there is actually a live-action Monopoly movie in development from Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment and Lionsgate. The adaptation of the beloved board game was first announced in April 2024, with John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) tapped to write the screenplay.

The announcement followed the massive success of Barbie (2023), which, of course, is based on the iconic Mattel doll. Toys of all sorts continue to be potential sources for movie adaptations, and Barbie‘s critical and commercial success suggested to studios that there is a great deal of money to be made with the use of this kind of IP. There’s no director on board for Robbie’s Monopoly movie just yet, but Scott seemingly has his hands full with other projects, including a post-apocalyptic feature called The Dog Stars, which will star Jacob Elordi.

Filming on The Dog Stars is reportedly set to start in April in Italy, with Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley having also joined the cast.

Our Take On Scott’s Unmade Monopoly Movie

It Would Have Been A Scott Career Outlier

Scott is a prolific producer, meaning even if he didn’t direct the Monopoly film he could produce it. In any case, such a movie would be an interesting departure for the filmmaker, who has spent much of his career making gritty and violent movies. In fact, the last time Scott made something that could be described as “family-friendly entertainment” was back in 2015 with The Martian.

This might be for the best, as Scott clearly has many other interests, and Barbie‘s success suggests Robbie could be the right person to shepherd this adaptation along.

Given his currently in-development projects and the fact that Robbie is developing her own Monopoly movie, Scott’s take on the board seems unlikely to ever come to fruition. This might be for the best, as Scott clearly has many other interests, and Barbie‘s success suggests Robbie could be the right person to shepherd this adaptation along. Though the ship has sailed on a Scott Monopoly movie, it’s clear that Rogen was impressed with the idea.

Source: Variety