The Most Bizarre Video Game Is Becoming A Movie
Amazon Studios has begun pre-production of adapting the cult classic video game ToeJam & Earl into a feature film. The Hollywood Reporter has reported that along with Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media and Story Kitchen, Amazon Studios will adapt the bizarre video game to his catalog of original content.
The video game ToeJam & Earl was an immediate hit upon its 1991 release. The game featured a jazz, funk, and hip-hop soundtrack, which ties into the synopsis of the game, where the titular characters come to earth to seek out a cure to a disease that robs their planet of rhythm, funk, and groove.
In the original film by Amazon Studios, ToeJam & Earl will embark on a journey to aid their home planet by seeking out music from Earth, as this is the origin of the music of their culture. The characters find out that the Earth isn’t all they expected, but at least the music is as promised. This is the only hope they have of saving their home planet.
The gameplay features an introduction by ToeJam, who explains that due to Earl’s lack of piloting skills, the duo has found themselves crashlanded on Earth. The player’s goal is to locate pieces of the wrecked spacecraft so they can return to their planet, Funkotron.
The Sega Mega Drive adventure ToeJam & Earl was so popular that it spawned two sequels, ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (1993) and ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth (2002). Now the original game will be adapted into a film written by Hotel Translyvania 4 writers Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazzo, who also co-wrote the new Disney+ series Superfudge.
Video game adaptations are all the rage as Paramount+ prepares to release the second season of the Halo series, and HBO will release its adaption of The Last of Us on January 15, 2023. Other streamers jumping on this bandwagon include Netflix, Peacock, and now Amazon.
ToeJam & Earl won’t be Amazon’s first foray into gaming adaptions. It was recently reported that Amazon Studios has plans to adapt Fallout and Mass Effect, with the latter securing Walton Goggins to the project. Deadline reported that Amazon is also in negotiations to develop a live-action series based on God of War.
According to Destructoid, ToeJam & Earl was created by Mark Voorsanger and Greg Johnson of Johnson Voorsanger Productions and features two alien rappers who crash-land their spaceship on Earth and find themselves stuck on a planet they aren’t too impressed with. Players play the role of their choice of character as they locate pieces of the wreckage.
ToeJam & Earl received positive reviews for originality, soundtrack, humor, and the two-player cooperative mode. The characters, ToeJam, a three-legged red being, and Earl, a fat, orange character, have a disdain for the human species.
These are exciting times for fans of gaming to see their favorites live on in the new projects. The trend of video adaptations is likely to continue, especially once the initial projects are released, as viewership for these upcoming releases will be high among those in the gaming world.
