A live-action Pac-Man movie is on the way courtesy of one of the names responsible for the live action Sonic the Hedgehog film. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Bandai Namco Entertainment will partner with Wayfarer Studios to produce the film. Wayfarer Studios will be represented by producers Justin Baldoni, Manu Gargi, and Andrew Calof. The film will be "based on an original idea from Chuck Williams,” an associate producer who worked on the first Sonic film. Williams will produce alongside Tim Kowk, both of Lightbeam Entertainment.This isn’t Pac-Man’s first foray beyond video games. Introduced in the 1980 arcade game, Pac-Man’s popularity grew to the point where the character starred in two television series; one that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1983, and another on Disney XD in 2013. That’s not to mention the dozens of video games that have been released on every system since the Atari 2600.
It’s still far too early in the movie’s development to discuss a release date, and there’s every possibility that this project will never make it to the silver screen. We’ll be sure to report when the project finds a writer and director.
One thing for sure, the live-action Pac-Man film is very likely to not include Ms. Pac-Man thanks to a legal feud. Bandai Namco owns the rights to Pac-Man, but Ms. Pac-Man was a spinoff created by Midway and General Computer Corporation. For a time, Ms. Pac-Man was even more popular than his supposedly male counterpart. At one time, Bandai Namco worked out a deal with Midway and GCC to have Ms. Pac-Man appear in new Pac-Man titles, but a 2019 court case resulted in Bandai Namco being told they don’t own the rights to Ms. Pac-Man and would even have to pay royalties whenever she’s portrayed.
Ms. Pac-Man has since been replaced by Pac-Mom in the coming Pac-Man World Re-Pac remake, which hits the PS5 and Nintendo Switch on August 26.