Atari movie to star DiCaprio

Paramount Pictures has given the nod to making a movie about the life and times of Nolan Bushnell, the outspoken founder of the company.

Another video game movie is reported to be in the works--but this one is about the industry itself. According to Variety, Paramount has said yes to a pitch for a film imaginatively titled Atari, set to star Leonardo DiCaprio as main man Nolan Bushnell.

The movie is a biopic about the Atari founder and has been written by Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman. The pair managed to convince Bushnell that they could "do his unique story justice" although various others had been competing for the rights.

Bushnell, who was born in 1943, is one of the founding fathers of the video game industry. In 1971 he founded a company called Syzygy with his colleague Ted Dabney. The bizarre name is an astronomical term which refers to the alignment of three or more celestial bodies in a straight line. In 1972, the duo discovered that--unbelievably--Syzygy was already in use by a roofing company, and rebranded themselves Atari--a reference to an attacking position in the Chinese board game Go.

Perhaps the most famous Atari-developed game is Pong in 1972, an electronic version of table tennis. The company also produced early consoles, including the incredibly successful Atari 2600. In 1976, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications, and left the division in 1979. However, Atari fell on troubled times, and today exists as a subdivision of Infogrames.

Bushnell himself has gone on the found more than 20 companies, including Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, Catalyst Technologies Venture Capital Group, and "interactive entertainment restaurant chain" uWink.

Recently, he has been quite vocal about his feelings about the modern games industry. He has called current games "pure, unadulterated trash," Sony "arrogant and capricious," and added that he thought some titles on the market are "truly despicable."

73 Comments

  • MrHatnClogs

    Posted Jul 7, 2009 6:11 am PT

    So we go from screwing up video games to screwing up peoples lives? Just kidding, I joke because everyone knows the trends of (most) video game movies, so why not F up the story of somebodies life XD I hope they do a good job though and while they are at it why not make a dramatic movie of the video game crash of 83 and how Nintendo rescued the industrylol

  • torres_unix

    Posted Jul 6, 2009 9:54 am PT

    darn, I would've preferred George Clooney as Bushnell; why does Hollywood always look for DiCaprio's bad acting to make films about great people (Howard Hughes and now Bushnell).

  • enoslives7

    Posted Jun 11, 2008 8:55 am PT

    dicaprio is too short to be Bushnell....Bushnell is 6-5 ?!?!

  • Bamdude89

    Posted Jun 11, 2008 8:21 am PT

    This is outta be cool to see a movie about Atari's past.

  • Mattyrock

    Posted Jun 11, 2008 1:40 am PT

    This outta be interesting.

  • Red_Trigger

    Posted Jun 10, 2008 5:04 pm PT

    Going to be an interesting movie, I was born plenty of years after the Atari age and I think that learning about it trough a movie like this will be somewhat cool.

  • jknight5422

    Posted Jun 10, 2008 10:42 am PT

    It has Dicrappio in it & sponsored by Chuck E. Cheese? I can't wait to avoid watching the movie or playing the game.

  • nate1222

    Posted Jun 10, 2008 3:44 am PT

    Giegerdolylwodd
    Bushnell didn't steal anything from Baer. Baer's device ONLY PLAYED a version (featuring no score) of PONG - ONE DAMN GAME! The ATARI 2600 was a real console because it played MULTIPLE TYPES of GAMES that could be changed out via cartridges. It also allows more to be developed and released for it. That's what defines a 'game console'. Baer's device featured NONE OF THAT. Thus, Bushnell IS the father of console gaming!

  • neerajkumar_4

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 10:53 pm PT

    nice!!

  • syafiqjabar

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 8:14 pm PT

    Hah, Dicaprio always go for the eccentric characters (playing pretty boy heartthrobs occasionally). Wonder if Bushnell is like that? And yes, Baer probably should be in this movie.

  • GeigerdolylWodd

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 6:42 pm PT

    "Atari movie to star DiCaprio
    Paramount Pictures has given the nod to making a movie about the life and times of Nolan Bushnell, the outspoken founder of the company."

    Why??? The guy's a thief, ever heard of Ralph H. Baer? Who's going to play him in the movie? A little known old man named Ralph H. Baer is the true father of videogames...He never gets his due thanks to Nolan. Nolan stole his ideas a fact that later played out in court.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_H._Baer

    Here's an excerpt from the wiki:

    Ralph H. Baer (born March 8, 1922) is a German-born American inventor, noted for his many contributions to games and the video game industry. In 2006, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology for inventing the home console for video games and spawning the video game industry..

    See that? He spawned the industry. I'd say that makes Ralph Baer a pretty darn important person.

    '"nate1222 These young pups don't get it. Without Atari, NES, etc... GAMING WOULD NOT EXIST! You young pups, who blow Mommy's money on expensive crap that most consumers DON'T care about (see sales charts), put flashy graphics and over-priced propietary tech over 'fun'. So y'all are NOT going to grasp the relevance of this movie. Nonetheless, watch your damn mouth when speaking of Bushnell."'

    No you don't get it no Ralph? No, Atari, no comodore, no nintendo, no etc.

    I will be very disappointed in the industry if Ralph H. Baer gets little to no screentime in this movie regardless of the actor who plays him. He played a substantial role in Nolan Bushnell's initial foray into videogames.

    I supose we can live this as long as they don't pretend that videogames originated from Atari...

    If they are really interested in the earlier origins of videogames one of the next films they make as a follow up should simply be title Ralph

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 6:33 pm PT

    What is with the comments people are posting this isn't a movie about games like pong its about a true story of a computer nerd that created the first major home console. With out his contribution to video games, nune of the past twenty years of gaming would have existed.

  • Ranteal

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 4:14 pm PT

    Recently, he has been quite vocal about his feelings about the modern games industry. He has called current games "pure, unadulterated trash," Sony "arrogant and capricious," and added that he thought some titles on the market are "truly despicable." This guy would have playing pong the rest of our lives. What would this guy know about games now? Its like asking Alexander Grahm Bell about the iPhone. What would he know?Why would you care? Whats up Dicaprio? You bored?What,there was no script on the maker of post it notes?

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 3:55 pm PT

    Sorry but i think the best gaming era was in the days of Software Houses like 'Psygnosis, Ultimate, Imagine, Ocean, System 3, Argonaut, Bug-Byte, CRL, Gremlin, whos games really were imaginitive and completely brilliant unlike many of todays games were people are so infactuated as to 'What the graphics are like', coupled with the fact that most games now are simply regenerations of themselves (Super dooper mario universe 4, FFX1CM, SF 31, RE 14, etc) you get the point. Please dont mis-understand, i love games, its just that i think the best games & Devs have been and gone.

  • pcmacro

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 3:20 pm PT

    Good point Drkill09

    btw this movie doesn't seem like its going to be interesting. Seems more like its going to be boring. And what's with the comments at the end. His dissing today's games? why? They are great. I mean people have come a long way from pong.

  • DrKill09

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 3:06 pm PT

    What's with all these comments about Ralph Baer being downrated? Despite popular belief, the 2600 was not the first console.

    The man deserves respect, as his console came before Bushnell's. Atari may have an important part in gaming history, but they were not the first, and, they almost destroyed it. Let's not forget that. If it wasn't for Nintendo, gaming would've died in 83.

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 2:57 pm PT

    Always nice to see a legend getting his due.

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 2:49 pm PT

    HOMIE_G64 , you have incoerrect usage of grammar as well, so shut your mouth.And what is wrong with triple posting?? forums run on multi-posts.

  • martialbullet

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 2:01 pm PT

    Atari, the movie eh? Interesting....I find it even more interesting that many of DiCaprios roles are based on real people....I heard he's even going to play Theodore Roosevelt in an upcoming movie.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 2:01 pm PT

    im very intruiged, ive been a gamer since my ZX Spectrum 48k (Rubber Keyboard : ) and would love to have an insight into possibly the most prolific person in video gaming history.

  • nate1222

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 1:18 pm PT

    These young pups don't get it. Without Atari, NES, etc... GAMING WOULD NOT EXIST! You young pups, who blow Mommy's money on expensive crap that most consumers DON'T care about (see sales charts), put flashy graphics and over-priced propietary tech over 'fun'. So y'all are NOT going to grasp the relevance of this movie. Nonetheless, watch your damn mouth when speaking of Bushnell.

  • Chris_555_TK

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 1:08 pm PT

    Wow Gamespot. Didn't IGN post this story on FRIDAY?

  • MogFromLeipzig

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 1:05 pm PT

    Cool if DiCaprio is participating it will probably become a proper movie.

  • SilverStar-90

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 1:05 pm PT

    What next Sega the movie?

  • nate1222

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 1:04 pm PT

    Being a gamer since 8bit NES, I'd like to see an 'accurate' portrail of Bushnell. I appreciate his contributions to my favorite form of entertainment more as time goes by. I don't like where 360 and PS3 are pushing gaming: price, huge development costs, lack of BC, forced online play for multiplayer, etc... Thus I'm becoming increasingly RETRO. With that RETRO affection, I appreciate gamings founding fathers (Bushnell, Miyamoto, etc..) just that much more. DiCaprio being in the movie is even more appealing. I love that guys work.

  • TheGreatGuero

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:43 pm PT

    No offense to the Atari founder, but this doesn't seem like the most interesting movie. However, DiCaprio seems like the kind of actor that is always passionate about the roles he chooses, so if he sees something good in it, then maybe there's more to it than meets the eye.

  • brerrabbit23

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:24 pm PT

    doesn't dicaprio weigh like a buck twenty?

    dude better start eating bacon & pancakes, 8 meals a day...

  • akiwak

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:24 pm PT

    What happened to the DiCaprio pic? I can see him now in the Atari 'sinking ship' ,trying to kill his twin brother, while going insane building new consoles that can fly, and everyone dies in the end!

  • Josepiphus

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:09 pm PT

    This sounds like a snoozefest.

  • Axe_336

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:08 pm PT

    So, if you just read the synopsis below the headline on the main page, the article is about Paramounter pictures giving the go ahead for a movie about their own founder.

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:06 pm PT

    the truth is this movie is only being built to bring hype to atari almost dead brand name

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:02 pm PT

    yes Ralph Bhear was the guy that made pong make a movie about him not this con man that took bhears idea of tv games and called it his own

  • ctg867

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:01 pm PT

    I hope the whole social and online thing Atari is trying to do works out for them. I wish them the best of luck.

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 12:00 pm PT

    atari was trash its only a name brand people feel cool for haveing on a t shirt trsust me a person can have all the game for the atari 2600 and you will only find a hand full of ok games out of 1000s

  • ff7cloudking

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:57 am PT

    Forget about Nolan Bushnell, there should be a movie made about Ralph Bhear.

  • HOMIE_G64

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:57 am PT

    Lol emptycow. Triple posting without the correct usage of grammar. But you are right, Atari did make some trash. But you have try to imagine a video gaming industry without Bushnell before you can really understand his contribution. He did make trash before, but every company does. His labelling all of todays game as trash is wrong, but you're labelling all of his games as trash is also wrong too.

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:54 am PT

    if it were not for sega and nintendo you would only be playing games on the pc dont you worry games would have still lived on the pc but anyuway say thanks to all the people that made good games for the sega and nintendo systems not this trash atari con man he himself is trash all they had was pong and and pac man and they milked it for all it was worth

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:49 am PT

    nintendo and sega were the ones keeping the home game system idea alive atari at some point was driving it into the ground people should know that they atari was at one point just selling pure trash to get money even porn video games were on the atari they were trash games for $50 sometimes $70) a pop thats why when t nintendo and sega were out they crushed atari i mean crushed

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:43 am PT

    or maybe the story will make Nolan Bushnell out to be a good man you know he once made a arcade control in the shape of breasts

  • emptycow

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:38 am PT

    yes Nolan Bushnell got rich off a game he did not even make nice for him you got a trash con artist getting a movie made about how big of a con man he was

  • guyguyguy1234

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:13 am PT

    ............umm

  • Viral-venom13

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 11:11 am PT

    Well this movie should be interesing, I can respect the company and what it has done for the industry in the past Atari was one of the greatest companies at one point and may still be but it has really been a long time since they have produced something really groundbreaking in their games!!

  • ISuperGamerI

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 10:59 am PT

    Some of you guys do not know what you are talking about. This guy created Atari and helped develop the gaming industry. Atari has always been one of my favourite gaming companies and has made great games. This movie might be good, especially since Leonardo DiCaprio is in it.

  • necronaux

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 10:39 am PT

    Sounds like it will go direct to DVD.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 10:33 am PT

    uummmm. this one could be interesting. we shall just have to wait and see.

  • BoogieManZero

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 9:58 am PT

    Good news to see DiCaprio in it, must be an decent script to get his attention. Not sure how I feel about Nolan though, I don't see them making him look bad while he is still alive.

  • Tylendal

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 9:53 am PT

    Nolan Bushnell? Wow, this couldn't be more terrible if Uwe Boll himself was directing it.

  • chego720

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 9:49 am PT

    This could be a very interesting movie for people who like video game history. I'm very interested in this film.

  • Asurael

    Posted Jun 9, 2008 9:33 am PT

    I kinda dislike Nolan Bushnell, I hope they dont try to idolize him in this movie. But I guess this should at least be fun to watch.

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