After bringing Barbie to the big screen to great success, Margot Robbie is turning her sights as a producer on one of the most popular video games of all time — The Sims.
The Sims — which was first released in 2000 and is one of the best-selling computer games in history — is set to be adapted for the big screen under Robbie’s production banner, LuckyChap, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The production company — which Robbie runs alongside her husband, Tom Ackerly, as well as Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr — will be teaming up with Vertigo Entertainment and Electronic Arts, which published the original game.
Director Kate Herron — best known for helming the first season of the Marvel series Loki — is set to take the reins on the project, with a screenplay co-written by Herron and Briony Redman, who has collaborated with Herron on a number of previous projects.
The Sims — developed by Will Wright, following the success of his city building simulation game SimCity — has often been described as a digital dollhouse, where players can build custom houses and control the lives and day-to-day activities of the people who reside inside those houses.
Many have noted that The Sims has a notable similarity to Barbie, in that there is no inherent storyline or narrative that exists in the source material — yet with the right creative team, Barbie was turned into an Oscar-winning billion-dollar blockbuster.
The Sims itself has been a blockbuster in its own right, spawning three sequel games, as well as countless expansions and DLC offerings. The Sims franchise has sold over 200 million copies.
Development on an adaptation first began in 2007, but never got off the ground, and in 2019, it was reported that plans to make the adaptation had been canceled by Disney, after they acquired 21st Century Fox.
There’s no word yet on when fans might be able to expect to see The Sims movie hit screens.
