iOS Puzzle Game 'Monument Valley' Being Adapted Into Live Action/CG Film - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS Puzzle Game 'Monument Valley' Being Adapted Into Live Action/CG Film

by

Ustwo Games' popular iOS and Android puzzle series "Monument Valley" is being turned into a movie, as reported this week by Deadline. Paramount Pictures and Weed Road Pictures have won the rights to the games, and Patrick Osborne has already been selected to develop and direct the first film.

monument valley 2
Osborne won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short for his short film "Feast" in 2014, which was shown before "Big Hero 6" in theaters. He has also worked as an animator on Disney films including "Wreck-It Ralph" and "Bolt." With Monument Valley, Paramount and Weed Road are hoping to launch a family-friendly franchise if the first film does well enough.

“Monument Valley is a one of a kind experience, at once small in its meditative, simple gameplay, as well as enormous in its sense of history,” Osborne said. “I’m privileged to be handed the reins to Ida’s mysterious kingdom, to play in her world of impossible architecture where seeing things differently is everything. I am thrilled to bring this unique world to theaters with the talented storytellers of Paramount and Weed Road.”

In the games, players guide Ida (in the original) and Ro and her child (in the sequel) through a series of mazes that present optical illusion challenges that the player must manipulate to solve. In the film, "contemporary live-action characters" will be sent into Monument Valley's surreal world and have to figure out a way to get back home.

The original Monument Valley launched on iOS in 2014, and eventually won numerous awards including one of Apple's Design Awards for that year. The game also went on to be a financial success thanks in part to its avoidance of a free-to-play structure, and four years later the sequel nearly doubled the first-year revenue of the original game.

Deadline's report doesn't provide a release window for the Monument Valley film. Currently, Osborne is working as director on an adaptation of the fantasy webcomic Nimona for 20th Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios, which is set for a February 2020 release date. If Osborne moves onto Monument Valley after Nimono, the adaptation of Ustwo's puzzle game should be released sometime after 2020.

Top Rated Comments

earthTOmitchel Avatar
101 months ago
Well that seems silly. Not much of a story to pull from, unlike Metal Gear or Uncharted.
On the other hand, that could be creatively liberating. Uncharted would be shackled down by players constantly comparing every story beat to the games. For MV, they could essentially do whatever they want (as long as the visuals stay an important focus) and it'd be next to impossible to complain about the story's adaptation.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kaibelf Avatar
101 months ago
Well that seems silly. Not much of a story to pull from, unlike Metal Gear or Uncharted.
Yes but look what they did with Pirates of the Caribbean and that was a theme park ride. You never know.
[doublepost=1534956657][/doublepost]
Yes, that’s exactly the kind of route I hope this takes too. Trippy, Escher-esque visuals that somehow captures some of the atmosphere/feel of the games.
Thirded. In fact this was exactly what I thought of the second I read the post.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
101 months ago
Well that seems silly. Not much of a story to pull from, unlike Metal Gear or Uncharted.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
101 months ago
I think it's a great idea! It has real potential in terms of visuals/word building (Labyrinth / Inception / Doctor Strange / Pans Labyrinth) and is a fairly blank slate storytelling wise. With the right people on board, could be very interesting indeed :)
Yes, that’s exactly the kind of route I hope this takes too. Trippy, Escher-esque visuals that somehow captures some of the atmosphere/feel of the games.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
101 months ago
At first glance this is a bad idea. But if you think about it a little then this is the right kind of game to adapt. There's no story set in stone that they have to use for the movie (for better or worse), but the game has been played and is loved by millions. As long as the connection to the game is clear and the story isn't half bad, it should do just as good or better than the Angry Birds movie.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
101 months ago
I...
hm.
I like it. Make no story at all. Just an incomprehensible journey of endless wandering with no preordained lessons or even apparent sense to any of it, no arcs, no moralizing, no grand plan, just a bunch of insane old junk you're born into left over from people who died long before you you can't hope nor would even want to understand, and all you can do your best to navigate the mess until you slip, fall, and die at some point, unnoticed by everyone else all stuck wandering in the same situation. The first movie to mirror real life.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

Saturday May 9, 2026 6:03 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...
Apple Watch Series 10 Jet Black Touch ID

Apple Watch Series 12 and watchOS 27: What to Expect Later This Year

Friday May 8, 2026 2:07 pm PDT by
While not too much has been reported about the next Apple Watch models, there are a few rumors about potential design changes and watchOS 27 features. Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 models are expected to be released in September, and we have outlined some of the key rumored hardware and software changes below. A new Apple Watch SE is not expected this year, as that model was...