Ten years ago, director Seth Gordon‘s The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters chronicled the unexpectedly compelling rivalry between two of the best Donkey Kong players in the world. The King of Kong also led Gordon to become a successful feature film director, with Four Christmases, Horrible Bosses, and the upcoming Baywatch movie to his credit. But Gordon is far from done with The King of Kong, and its next incarnation is going to be a musical
While speaking with IGN, Gordon revealed that “we’re actually working on a musical right now, which is pretty great…I think it lends itself to [the stage]Â – there’s such a melodrama, and so many of the characters are actually musicians, and the music of the games, too, is a thing.” The report notes that Gordon actually left the Baywatch press junket early to listen to demos of songs from The King of Kong musical.
Gordon also noted that one of the songs in the musical will be “Museum of Your Heart,” an original tune by Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day, who had a significant role in the documentary. In the film, the primary focus was on Steve Wiebe, a high school teacher and musician who chased the world record for a high score in Donkey Kong. Wiebe’s rival was Billy Mitchell, one of the greatest arcade video game players of all-time.
For years, Gordon has attempted to bring Wiebe and Mitchell’s story back to the big screen as a fictionalized retelling. In the new report, Gordon noted that if the cinematic remake happens, he wants to put the focus on Mitchell, who was portrayed in a more villainous light in the original.
“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,” said Gordon. “Because at least he believed in his version, very much, so try to see what that’d be like.”
It should be noted that the race to become the best Donkey Kong player in the world has greatly expanded since The King of Kong was released in 2007, but it’s still one of our favorite video game documentaries. If it really does become a musical or a new film, we’ll be the first ones in line!
Are you excited to see The King of Kong become a musical? Unleash a video game inspired song in the comment section below!
Images: Picturehouse