A killer hippo horror film is in the works, which looks a lot like a twisted version of the classic board game Hungry Hungry Hippos. According to Varietya new survival thriller called Hungry is being launched at the American Film Market by Signature Entertainment. The film, from filmmaker James Nunn of the One Shot action thriller franchise, is currently in production in Malta. Nunn directs from his own screenplay with Been Jacques from Signature’s head of UK production. Signature’s CEO Mark Goldberg and head of production and development Sarah Gabriel executive produce.
According to the report, Hungry follows a group of vacationing tourists who fight for their lives against a rampaging hippo after becoming lost in the swamps of Louisiana. No casting information was released, although the report did note that “the film’s key behind-the-scenes talent includes award-winning MUFX designer Dan Martin (The Banshees of Inisherin, Owner, Infinity Poopl) and VFX company Magic Dust VFX (True Detective: Nightland, One piece) who both participated in the project to bring Hungry’s hippopotamus to life.”
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While the film has no connection to Hasbro’s iconic Hungry Hungry Hippos game, it can’t help but draw some general atmosphere from the premise. Created by toy inventor Fred Kroll in 1967 when the idea for the game was first published and then introduced in 1978, Hungry Hungry Hippos is a table top game for 2-4 players in which players try to collect as many marbles as possible with their toy hippo. . The method for collecting the marbles is to have the hippos ‘eat’ them, with the winner being the hippo (or rather the player) who has ‘eaten’ the most marbles.
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Interestingly, while Hungry is in no way affiliated with Hasbro or the Hungry Hungry Hippo game, there was at one point a movie in development that was officially based on the game. In 2012, it was reported that Hasbro had signed a deal with Emmett/Furla Films to make films based on Monopoly and Hungry Hungry Hippos, as well as the Action Man toys. However, nothing ever really came of that deal and those films never materialized. Then, in 2023, after Mattel’s massive success Barbieit was reported that Lionsgate had officially acquired Entertainment One from Hasbro and all that a Monopoly movie was in developmentbut there haven’t really been any real updates since then.
While there haven’t been any solid updates on the Monopoly movie – and an actual Hungry Hungry Hippos movie doesn’t seem to be happening – the idea of adapting beloved game and toy franchises into films has been a trend in recent years. At one point, there were a total of 45 Mattel-related films in the works, including Barney, Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket. Movies based on Matchbox, Uno, View-Master, American Girl, and more have also been announced at one point or another. At least one of those films, the Polly Pocket film, received a major update earlier this year when it was reported that Lena Dunham – who would write and direct the film – had left the project to focus her energy on an original project rather than something from a major studio.