Videos by ComicBook.com
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is a documentary about one man’s journey to dethrone Billy Mitchell, who was crowned “the world’s best gamer,” by taking down his record high score in Donkey Kong. It’s a surprisingly engaging documentary which has won multiple awards, and apparently it’s being turned into a stage musical. We’re not kidding.
IGN reports that director Seth Gordon spilled the beans during a junket for his Baywatch reboot. When asked about a rumored remake of King of Kong, Gordon responded affirmatively, but unexpectedly, sayingm “Yeah, some scripts have been written – we’re actually working on a musical right now, which is pretty great.” Gordon stated that the documentary is ready-made for the stage given the melodrama, the musical talent of the characters, and the iconic music of the game itself.
There are apparently about fifteen songs ready to go already, with more possibly on the way. Walter Day’s (the scorekeeper) song ‘Museum of Your Heart’ was mentioned by name, and Gordon described the collection of tunes as “amazing.” He reportedly left the Baywatch junket to go hear draft versions of the planned songs.
As for the for the prospect of turning King of Kong into a more traditional biopic, Gordon is still open to the idea. He would, however, likely make some changes. “If we were going to do the movie, I’d be open to it, but I always thought it’d be cool to flip the point of view and do it from Billy’s perspective, sort of see the whole thing from his point of view. Because at least he believed in his version, very much, so try to see what that’d be like.”
We’re all in. An already-bizarre film is about to get a lot weirder, and Seth Gordon has already proven that he can take a niche subject matter and turn it into a a broadly appealing spectacle. As soon as we learn more about this musical, we’ll keep you updated. In the meantime, go watch The King of Kong if you haven’t already. You won’t regret that rental.
“In the cutthroat world of Donkey Kong, only one can rule! A middle-school science teacher and a hot sauce mogul vie for the Guinness World Record on the arcade classic, Donkey Kong. Steve and Billy engage in a cross-country duel to see who could set the high score and become the King of Kong! Along the way, both men learn valuable lessons about what it means to be a father, a husband, and a true champion – discovering that you don’t always need to win to be a winner.”
