From the producers of “Barbie”: what is known about the work on the film based on the game The Sims

A film based on the popular series of computer games The Sims will be shot in the United States. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the project will be produced by Kate Herron, who has worked as a director on such series as The Last of Us, Sex Education and Loki. She will also write the script with Briony Redman, whose filmography includes the Doctor Who series. 

The project will be produced by LuckyChap Entertainment, founded by Margot Robbie, Josie McNamara, Tom Ackerley and Sophia Kerr. The team worked on the 2023 film “Barbie,” which at the end of the year became the highest-grossing film at the global box office with $1.445 billion in receipts, received eight Oscar nominations and was awarded a statuette for best song – “What Was I Made For?” - performed by Billie Eilish. Also involved in the production are Vertigo Entertainment (“The Departed,” “It,” “Doctor Sleep”) and The Sims company Electronic Arts. Who will play the roles and what the film will be about is still unknown.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, The Sims is somewhat reminiscent of Barbie. The game does not have a clear narrative, and the characters live their own lives, although they are controlled by the players. Barbie, on the other hand, is a toy, the use of which also does not require scripts - the players themselves are responsible for the plot. 

The Sims is a real-life simulator in which players build houses, create characters by choosing their appearance, personality traits, skills and attitudes, and perform various daily tasks such as cooking dinner and cleaning the house. Heroes can have fun, pursue a career, or start a family. In addition to user-created characters, the game also features recurring characters, such as members of the Goth and Landgraab families. They all have goals and desires - when they achieve their goals, they become happy.

The release of the first game in the series took place in 2000. Since then, three sequels have been released, each of which added new gaming features and improved the technical characteristics of the game, as well as many additions, such as “Vacation”, “School Life”, “Show Business”, “Magic”. They continue to be released to this day, and The Sims 5 was announced in 2022. The producers promise that the new version will change the way characters think and behave, and will also introduce even more ways to play, tools to encourage creativity, and opportunities to create interesting stories. In addition, the game can be played either alone or with someone.

Over the years, more than 200 million copies of The Sims have been distributed. The game is recognized as one of the best-selling in history. The project captivated not only children, but also an adult, mainly female audience. In 2016, The Sims was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. 

This film adaptation is not the first attempt by filmmakers to bring the popular game to the big screen. In 2007, a similar project was announced by 20th Century Fox. It was planned that the script would be written by Brian Lynch, who had a hand in creating such cartoons as Minions and The Secret Life of Pets. The project was never implemented.

In 2020, a reality show based on The Sims premiered in the United States. The participants were given a specific goal that they had to achieve in the game. This could be, for example, organizing a fashion show or creating transport. At the same time, the participants had to come up with stories as part of the game. In total, one season of the show was released, including four episodes. The winner received a prize of $100 thousand. 

Meanwhile, in Russia, work is underway on an analogue of the video game SimCity, which is the predecessor of The Sims. According to Izvestia, the project will become a city-planning simulator: players will develop their own metropolis and monitor the welfare of its inhabitants. 

“Players will have to build schools and universities, since the level of education of citizens affects how well the city itself is governed. The higher the level of knowledge of the virtual population, the more successful the metropolis will be,” said project leader Nikita Kudryavtsev.

The Russian game is aimed at supporting family values. It will encourage the emergence of traditional families and prohibit the creation of representatives of LGBT communities*. The demo version is scheduled for release in the summer of 2024.

* LGBT organization is recognized as extremist, its activities are prohibited in Russia by decision of the Supreme Court of November 30, 2023.