Yesterday news broke that Gail Katz, known for producing movies like Air Force One and In the Line of Fire, acquired the rights to produce a Settlers of Catan movie or television show. While this is further proof that Hollywood is devoid of any original ideas, I am pretty excited to see Klaus Teuber’s strategy game come to life.
I can’t imagine that the movie or show will be solely based on the original game. The only conflict in the original game was the thief, which wouldn’t provide a compelling story. However, if the movie or show were based upon the Cities and Knights expansion, I could see plenty of potential for an exciting movie.
The movie could focus on three or four different city-states all preparing for an invasion by an oncoming barbarian horde. There are whispers about the barbarians but nobody really knows that much about them, only that they bring death and destruction with them. The city-states could work together, but then one would betray the others and help the barbarians invade Catan.
There could be some Romeo and Juliet elements to the story, with a daughter and son from rival city-states falling in love.
There would definitely be space for large-scale battles between the knights of Catan and the barbarians.
The story could also focus on both the highborn and the lowborn, as the settlers and the rulers prepared for the invasion.
I’m just spitballing here, but this sounds like a movie I’d actually want to watch. Or it could even be a television series, something to try and steal some of that Game of Thrones thunder.
There’s a good chance, though, that the producers will screw it up and we’ll get just another failed attempt to start an epic movie or television series. Settlers of Catan will probably wind through a long path in development hell and come out the other side as a buddy cop movie starring Dave Franco and Justin Bieber.
Until that happens, though, we can dream about brave men and women settling the wild land of Catan, metropolises that reach to the skies and racially sensitive thieves.
What would you want to see in a Settlers of Catan movie or television show?
We were given the Star Trek version of Catan for Christmas. It's fun. Not sure I'd be interested in a film based on the original, but I know it will have a huge built-in audience.
I had to chuckle when you said, "There’s a good chance, though, that the producers will screw it up..." Now your'e starting to sound like yours truly, the Grumpy Old Fan. Flibbedy floo, my friend, fibbedy floo! 😉
Have a great weekend and blessings on your Lord's Day!
It does seem like Hollywood has lost all of their creative abilities. We enjoy the game. It'll be interesting to see how they turn it into a movie