The Sims, the virtual life simulation video game by Electronic Arts (EA), is being adapted into a movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Considered the most addictive game ever created, The Sims movie will be directed by Kate Herron, best known for directing season one of the Marvel series Loki and four episodes of Netflix’s Sex Education. Herron will also co-write the screenplay with Briony Reman, with whom she has a writing partnership.
The movie is being produced by LuckyChap, the production company run by Margot Robbie, her husband Tom Ackerly, Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr. EA will also play a role in creative development and production.
As The Hollywood Reporter has highlighted, Sims share similar traits to Barbies (LuckyChap produced Gerta Gerwig’s Barbie 2023). The game, first released in 2000, has no narrative structure, and players can control their avatar and choose their customisable traits, skills, and relationships. Like Barbies, The Sims allows its players to escape their mundane lives into the mundane fantasy world of others.
There have been previous attempts to bring The Sims to the big screen. In 2007, Fox had initiated plans for a live-action adaptation of the series. However, it remained in development for over a decade, ultimately meeting its demise in 2019 following the Disney-Fox merger.
The film is not expected to be released anytime soon.