Brett Ratner Signs Up For FarmVille Television Series

[Andy Chalk]

Brett Ratner Signs Up For FarmVille Television Series

The X-Men 3 director will serve as executive producer on an animated series based on Zynga's best-known Facebook game.

You may remember Brett Ratner from such films as Rush Hour or X-Men 3: The Last Stand, but his most recently announced project won't be quite so big-budget. Ratner has signed on with television production company Six Eleven Media to create a half-hour animated television series based on the Zynga game FarmVille.

Yes, that FarmVille [http://www.farmville.com/]. Take a minute to let that sink in.

"FarmVille is one of the most exciting brands out there today and its cross-platform opportunities are endless," Ratner said in a statement. "I am thrilled to be expanding the brand with existing fans and also engaging a whole new audience."

Zynga has struggled in recent times and AppData [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121931-More-Zynga-Games-Get-The-Axe] rankings and the original FarmVille, despite being nearly four years old, is still hanging in at number 28. Both draw in more than one million daily active users. (Changes to Facebook's active user reports currently prevent AppData from providing more precise numbers.)

The report originally appeared on the reasonably credible Wall Street Journal but even so, part of me is waiting for the punchline. I mean, a FarmVille television series? I'm glad Brett's so thrilled about it, but I can't even begin to fathom how that would work.

Source: Wall Street Journal [http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/02/07/brett-ratner-brings-farmville-game-to-television/]



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[Marter]

So, basically, Zynga is taking one for the team and keeping Ratner from making movies for a little while, right?

That has to be it. It has to be!

 

[Archemetis]

I'm struggling to think who gets the browny points on this one, Zynga for keeping Brett Ratner away from a real directors chair or Ratner for clearly cheating Farmville out of a decent director for their (let's face it) likely awful TV series...

They're both pretty awful, so how do you chose?

 

[iniudan]

Don't really know what more to say, other I didn't watch TV in years, so had no idea it had fallen this low.

 

[Shinsei-J]

"FarmVille is one of the most exciting brands out there today"

Little bit behind aren't we Ratner.
I highly doubt anyone will even watch it.

 

[mew4ever23]

Seriously, what the hell would you do for TV with Farmville of all things?

 

[Twilight_guy]

They made a decent TV series out of transforming robot toys, so I don't doubt they could make a series out of this. I do however want to bang my head on the wall at the implication of making a TV series from a video game "franchise". This is as much of a giant sell-out as angry birds whoring itself it to everything and everyone. Not that Zynga is above selling its grandmother's walking stick for a pack of gum if it can.

 

[IronSuplex]

Farmville!? You would not believe how boring a show like that sounds. Well as everyone has already said, least it will keep him away from movies.

 

[VoidWanderer]

If I had that Nathan Fillion gif I would put it here.

There. Are. No. Words.

 

[PsychicTaco115]

If I squint my eyes enough, I can pretend that it'll be a TV show about Harvest Moon...

Drats, I seem to have ripped them out by accident

Anyone mind helping me get them back?

 

[Scorpid]

Good and let his career continue to stagnate there.

 

[vid87]

Between this and the supposed Angry Birds movie, I'm now actively awaiting Fruit Ninja on Broadway, along with the opera tentatively titled "This game is about NOTHING."

 

[Andy Shandy]

If I had that Nathan Fillion gif I would put it here.

There. Are. No. Words.

Let me assist you with that.

So yeah...What?

A Farmville TV series? This is some big joke, right?

 

[AlexanderPeregrine]

While most people probably see this as one of Hollywood's most boring directors being tapped to produce a doomed-to-fail TV show based on the mind-numbing property of an evil conglomerate, I see it as something better: one step closer to a Cow Clicker [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Clicker] movie! Hell yeah!

 

[MrGalactus]

Maybe this could finally provide the coveted definition for the worst piece of media in art history. All they have to do is cast that woman from True Blood, have her do that painful fake accent the entire time, and the ingredients are all there.
We can do it.

 

[scorptatious]

Wha?

*shrugs*

Well, you never know, it might be end up becoming like MLP FIM and actually be good.

...

Nah, who am I kidding?

 

[Roxas1359]

They made a decent TV series out of transforming robot toys, so I don't doubt they could make a series out of this. I do however want to bang my head on the wall at the implication of making a TV series from a video game "franchise". This is as much of a giant sell-out as angry birds whoring itself it to everything and everyone. Not that Zynga is above selling its grandmother's walking stick for a pack of gum if it can.

In defense of Transformers, Marvel actually had made the backstory for them before the TV series premiered.

However I agree with everything else you said in your post. This is a huge sellout. But sadly I wouldn't be surprised if it is true because if this show can get on the air than any show can: