Greg Kinnear and Tom Cruise to Star in Fictional Remake of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters?

Posted by on January 18th, 2008   Filed under: Documentary, Games, Rumours
Source: Movieweb

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You really have to wonder why The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters didn’t get a wider release in theatres last year. The movie has had fantastic reviews across the board from everyone who has seen it, and not only does it have a huge built-in audience of video game fans, the story really is one that just about anybody can get into. And yet, at its widest release, it was playing in 58 theatres across North America. I guess there’s just a universal belief that documentaries don’t have widespread appeal, although I’m willing to bet the DVD is going to sell like crazy when it is finally released on January 29th.

At any rate, it seems that New Line are currently trying to bring the amazing story of The King of Kong to the big screen in a more conventional and accessible way. They are currently in pre-production on a fictional version of the movie, with Greg Kinnear possibly starring as Steve Wiebe and Tom Cruise as Billy Mitchell. I don’t really believe that Tom Cruise would star in a movie like this, but Greg Kinnear makes a lot of sense, and I totally see the resemblance. Somehow just picturing him in the movie actually makes me curious to see it, whereas normally I find these fictional remakes of documentaries to be completely redundant. The interesting thing is that Seth Gordon would also direct the remake, so I suppose it will remain somewhat true to the original. Have you see The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters? Would you rather wait for the fictional version?



  • I have not seen it, but I’m anxious to (it’s at the top of my Netflix queue ready for its release later this month). I am WAY more interested in the doc version than any fictional version, especially if it involves Tom Cruise. By the way, love your site! I found it via The Documentary Blog.

  • Thanks Chris, glad to have you reading both sites!

    See, I think Tom Cruise could work as Billy Mitchell precisely because everyone hates him. And just think about his character in Magnolia. The problem is, he’s probably way out of their price range for this movie.

  • Nemesis

    This is a great documentary espcially for anyone who experienced all the arcade craze back in the day. All about the high scores…

    I had a feeling that the Billy Mitchell character was one of the best ‘villians’ seen in a long-time, a lot better than most fictional movie villians out right now.

    I’m not sure how this will translate to the big screen though, the documentry was pretty entertaining to begin with, i doubt it will be topped no matter who stars in it.

  • That casting would be spot on for both roles, but the documentary was so good it seems crazy to remake it. I’d rather more people just see the doc, for me it’s one of the top films of 2007.

  • I would like to see the original documentary before checking out the fictional remake, though I have interest in both. I suppose it’s the same thing as wanting to read the book before seeing a movie based on it, which I tend to like to do.

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