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Pixels: Saving the world from Pac-Man and Donkey Kong

CANCUN — For all you 1980s kids out there, director Chris Columbus’ sci-fi action-comedy spectacle Pixels is chock-full of familiar retro video arcade game references such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.

Pac-Man attacking our world with a smile in Pixels

Pac-Man attacking our world with a smile in Pixels

CANCUN — For all you 1980s kids out there, director Chris Columbus’ sci-fi action-comedy spectacle Pixels is chock-full of familiar retro video arcade game references such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.

So how does one squeeze in as many video game characters as possible in one movie? By concocting a story about aliens invading Earth in the guise of video game characters after they misinterpret a totally harmless NASA time capsule full of these classic games as a declaration of war.

Joining the silly mayhem are Adam Sandler, Josh Gad and Game Of Thrones’ Peter Dinklage, who play video game nerds-turned-heroes recruited by the President, played by Kevin James.

And even if it sounds rather incredulous, the director believes Pixels will resonate well with audiences.

“When Adam (Sandler, who is also a co-producer) gave me the script, I had no idea what I was about to read,” said Columbus, whose resume of hits include Home Alone, two Harry Potter films and Mrs Doubtfire.

“I thought it was the most unique and original script I had read in about five years. And the exciting thing was to do an original film in the middle of summer when it’s mostly superhero films and sequels. It brought me back to the days of Amblin (Entertainment, the famous production firm co-founded by Steven Spielberg), when we were doing movies like Goonies and Gremlins. I wanted the audience to feel that way when they walked into the theatre to see Pixels. It felt like we could actually accomplish that again.”

Indeed, the best of 1980s pop culture seems to be what Columbus knows best, seeing how he penned the above mentioned Gremlins and The Goonies, and directed Adventures In Babysitting. Taking on famous arcade games might seem like a piece of cake. And, surprisingly, securing the rights to take on these characters was a breeze.

“Adam had been developing (Pixels) for some time, and I was shocked that some of the rights were already in place such as Pac-Man and Centipede. The real amazing thing was that we got the rights to Donkey Kong — and a lot of other characters we don’t want to talk about because they’re surprises in the film!” he teased.

“But it was shocking to me that we got basically the greatest hits of all the best video game characters. You have to thank Sony for helping us out with that. It was a lot of meetings with the companies, a lot of video conferences explaining to them exactly what I was going to do, showing them storyboards and showing them the animatics of each scene.”

He added: “They really care about these characters! There was a point when I thought, well, they really care about Pac-Man to a point where they honestly do think of him as this flesh and blood character. So we treated them all with tremendous respect.”

Pixels opens in Singapore on Aug 13.

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