A killer hippo horror movie is in the works and it sounds an awful lot like a twisted take on the classic board game Hungry Hungry Hippos. According to Variety, a new survival thriller called Hungry is being launched at the American Film Market by Signature Entertainment. The film, which comes 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 of Signature’s head of U.K. production producing. Signature’s CEO Mark Goldberg and head of production and development Sarah Gabriel executive produce.
Per the report, Hungry will follow a group of tourists on holiday who find themselves fighting for their lives against a rampaging hippo after they end up lost in the Louisiana swamplands. No casting information was released, though the report did note that “key behind-the-scenes talent on the film includes award-winning MUFX designer Dan Martin (The Banshees of Inisherin, Possessor, Infinity Pool) and VFX company Magic Dust VFX (True Detective: Night Country, One Piece) who have both boarded the project to bring Hungry’s hippo to life.”
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While the film is not connected to Hasbro’s iconic Hungry Hungry Hippos game, one can’t help but get some general vibes 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 tabletop game for 2-4 players which sees players attempt to collect as many marbles as possible with their toy hippopotamus. The method of collection for the marbles is to have the hippos “eat” them, with the winner being the hippo (or rather its 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, at one point a movie officially based off the game was in development. Back 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 toy Action Man. However, nothing really ever came from that deal and those films never materialized. Then, in 2023, following the massive success of Mattel’s Barbie, it was reported that Lionsgate had officially acquired Entertainment One from Hasbro and that a Monopoly movie was in development, but there haven’t really been any real updates since.
While there haven’t been any solid updates on the Monopoly movie — and a real Hungry Hungry Hippos movie doesn’t appear to be something that’s happening — the idea of turning beloved game and toy franchises into movies has been a trend in recent years. At one point there was a total of 45 Mattel-related movies in the works, including Barney, Hot Wheels, and Polly Pocket. Films 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 movie, got a significant update earlier this year when it was reported that Lena Dunham — who had been set to write and direct the film — had exited the project to put her energy towards an original project rather than something from a major studio.