The Studio creator Seth Rogan met with Ridley Scott for a Monopoly movie - Here are the details

The Studio, the latest comedy series conceived and headlined by Seth Rogen, isn’t just a show. It’s a knowing wink at the inner workings of the entertainment industry.

Set within the fictional chaos of a Hollywood production company, it gives audiences a behind-the-scenes look at the pitch rooms, personality clashes, and unpredictable dynamics that shape what we see on screen. Through sharp dialogue and absurd scenarios, Rogen taps into the bizarre reality of content creation, showing just how much madness goes into making a movie or series.

Amid the promotional rounds for The Studio, Rogen dropped a story that feels pulled straight from one of the show’s episodes: a real-life meeting with legendary director Ridley Scott about turning the board game Monopoly into a major motion picture.

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A surreal meeting between Seth Rogen and Ridley Scott

Roughly fifteen years ago, Seth Rogen and his longtime creative partner Evan Goldberg found themselves in a meeting they hadn’t seen coming. Fresh off the buzz from Superbad and Pineapple Express, the two were invited to sit down with none other than Ridley Scott. Yes, the same Ridley Scott who gave us Alien, Blade Runner, and Gladiator. But instead of talking about a sweeping sci-fi or a grand historical drama, Scott had something very different in mind: a movie based on Monopoly.

It sounded wild, but Scott was completely serious. Rogen, still amused by the memory, shared what happened in an interview with Variety:

“It was a meeting with Ridley Scott. He was going to direct the Monopoly movie, and me and Evan went to his office. And he’s like, ‘Imagine a helicopter shot of New York City. You’re looking down at Central Park. You see all the buildings around Central Park. What does that look like to you?’ And we’re like, ‘Monopoly?’ And he’s like, ‘Exactly!’”

It wasn’t just a throwaway idea, either. Scott pitched a fully visualized opening scene that blended spectacle with symbolism: a helicopter shot slowly revealing a city laid out like the iconic board. What could’ve been a quirky IP adaptation suddenly sounded like a modern parable.

Class divisions, real estate obsession, and the cold machinery of capitalism were the themes Scott seemed ready to explore through the lens of a game most people associate with childhood arguments and family game nights.

The movie never got off the ground, but the story has stuck with Rogen all these years, and now, it feels even more relevant. In an industry where the most unexpected ideas sometimes get the green light, this surreal Monopoly pitch stands as a reminder: sometimes, the wildest meetings are the ones you remember forever.

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Ridley Scott's vision and cinematic parallels

Scott’s concept was anything but shallow. He envisioned the film beginning with a cinematic aerial shot over Central Park, the camera gradually pulling back to reveal a sprawling city designed as a perfect replica of the Monopoly board.

It wasn’t a simple branding exercise. It was an allegorical world, hinting at class divides, real estate obsessions, and the darker underbelly of economic ambition. In fact, the idea sounded closer to the thematic territory of Blade Runner or Elysium than any children’s board game. There was an intentional surrealism to the premise, akin to the controlled dystopias seen in Brazil or The Truman Show.

What Scott imagined wasn’t just a movie; it was a critique dressed as a blockbuster, with the potential to walk the fine line between satire and spectacle. Though the film never materialized, the pitch has taken on a kind of legendary status, especially now as Hollywood continues to resurrect and reframe familiar intellectual properties in search of new meaning.

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From tabletop to screen, board game adaptations across media

Hollywood has long toyed with the idea of turning games into narratives, with results ranging from cult classics to infamous misfires. In 1995, Jumanji, adapted from Chris Van Allsburg’s picture book, tapped into the fantastical elements of gameplay, creating a world where the stakes of the board game spilled into real life. Its reboot decades later reimagined the premise within a video game format, speaking to a new generation of players while staying rooted in the original concept’s charm.

Clue, released in 1985 and based on the whodunit board game, embraced a campy, comedic tone complete with multiple endings and larger-than-life characters. It wasn’t a box office smash, but it became a cult favorite.

Games like Dungeons & Dragons have also crossed mediums, moving from tabletop storytelling to screen epics. The fantasy mechanisms and character dynamics built into such games naturally lend themselves to serialized storytelling, as evidenced by recent adaptations that blend humor, action, and world-building.

Even card-based or strategy games like Gwent spun off from The Witcher series, illustrate the cross-pollination between gameplay and narrative media. All of this reflects a broader cultural appetite for entertainment that feels both nostalgic and exploratory, reimagining childhood pastimes as immersive cinematic experiences.

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Monopoly as a cultural icon in constant reinvention

Few games carry the kind of symbolic weight that Monopoly does. First developed in the early 20th century as a cautionary tale against unchecked capitalism, the game ironically became a celebration of financial conquest, real estate dominance, and ruthless strategy.

Over the decades, Monopoly transformed into more than a pastime; it became a cultural mirror. It has been parodied, politicized, gamified for education, and spun into hundreds of themed editions, from Star Wars to The Simpsons, from world cities to niche fandoms.

Its aesthetic has evolved too: once simple paper money and wooden houses, Monopoly now features sleek digital versions, interactive apps, and collector editions with custom artwork. Yet, through all these iterations, it retains its core dynamic: competition, luck, and the tension between strategy and fate. That mix, of control and chaos, of empire-building and bankruptcy, is part of what makes it such a potent metaphor for real life. Any adaptation of Monopoly would carry the weight not just of nostalgia but of decades of embedded meaning.

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How a Monopoly film might unfold on screen

If anyone could reimagine Monopoly as a cinematic experience, it would be Ridley Scott. His body of work is a masterclass in turning abstract ideas into visual language, whether it’s replicants grappling with identity or ancient warriors fighting for legacy.

A Monopoly film in his hands could unfold like a modern fable: maybe a power struggle between corporate dynasties in a near-future metropolis or a dark comedy where characters literally live within a city governed by game rules, chance cards, jail, and all. There’s room for satire, for allegory, for dystopia, and even for some unexpected warmth.

With the right ensemble cast and a script that leans into absurdity while keeping its finger on society’s pulse, Monopoly could go from a board game to a bold statement. Imagine the visual palette: pastel streets lined with neon signs, overdeveloped districts bursting with for-sale signs, and a Mr. Monopoly figure looming as a mythic presence. It’s an ambitious idea, but not outside the bounds of what cinema can achieve when driven by vision.

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Past adaptations and the challenge of a saturated market

Of course, not every attempt to bring games to the screen ends well. Battleship (2012), for example, took the name and concept of the naval guessing game but missed the tone completely, delivering a bloated action film that left critics and audiences unimpressed. Yet studios keep returning to the well, for good reason: intellectual property has become the lifeblood of the entertainment economy.

Recognizable brands lower the barrier to entry for audiences and marketers alike. But familiarity alone doesn’t guarantee success. What matters is how well the core experience of the game is transformed into something narratively satisfying.

Writers need to distill what makes a game compelling, its tension, its rules, and its rhythm, and translate that into character arcs, conflict, and structure. Directors, meanwhile, have to balance fan service with cinematic storytelling. In a landscape overwhelmed by franchises and reboots, the successful adaptations are the ones that aren’t afraid to get weird, bold, or self-aware. It’s a risk, but sometimes, the weirdest pitches are the ones worth making.

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Between the absurd and the possible, Scott's pitch lives on

Seth Rogen’s recounting of the Monopoly meeting feels like a punchline with depth, a behind-the-scenes anecdote that reveals just how unpredictable Hollywood can be. It’s funny, sure, but it’s also telling.

The entertainment industry runs on big swings and bizarre ideas. For every script that gets made, there are a dozen just as strange waiting in the wings. The fact that a Monopoly movie directed by Ridley Scott was even considered says a lot about how creativity works behind closed doors. What seems absurd today could become tomorrow’s sleeper hit or cult classic.

And maybe that’s the point. In a world where board games are becoming blockbuster material, where satire and spectacle collide, and where nothing is too strange to pitch, a Monopoly film feels less like a joke and more like a missed opportunity. Or perhaps it’s just waiting for the right roll of the dice.