Leonardo DiCaprio to portray the Atari and Chuck E. Cheese Founder
Life is stranger than fiction for Leonardo DiCaprio. It is a familiar trend for Leo, he played Howard Hughes in The Aviator, Frank Abagnale in Catch Me If You Can, and Tobias Wolff in This Boy’s Life. And Leo’s also attached to films in development about Wall Street felon Jordan Belfort and James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Well, portraying real people on screen has continued, as the Oscar-nominated actor-producer has pressed the play button. Leo just become attached to star in “Atari,” a pitch that writers Brian Hecker and Craig Sherman sold to Paramount on Friday about the godfather of the video game industry, Nolan Bushnell.
DiCaprio’s Appian Way production company is producing the movie, which the filmmakers pitched as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” meets “Tucker.”
Nolan Bushnell is a fascinating tech and gaming innovator, but has not yet reached the Jobs, Woz, Gates icon status. Leo’s portrayal of Nolan should change all that. Born in 1943, Nolan worked at Lagoon Amusement Park during high school, repairing games and pinball machines on the midway. Nolan founded Atari in 1972, and thus Pong was born and became a huge gaming hit — primarily through the success of Sears and the Wish Book. He later sold the company to Warner Communications for $28 million.
Nolan was named Newsweek’s “50 Men That Changed America,” and he later founded Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza-Time Theaters chain in 1977. Chuck E. Cheese featured expensive not so tasty pizza and creepy animatronic animals that played music. The company was run into the ground, filed for bankruptcy — and Nolan sold it to competing ShowBiz Pizza in 1984. Since then, Nolan has bumbled around in the tech world. He has not been able to recaptured the magic of Atari or Chuck E. Cheese. Of course, having Leonardo DiCaprio tell your life story is nothing to complain about.
Read more about Nolan K. Bushnell at Wikipedia
Comments
By Name on June 11th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Seems about right. He looks like a guy that could be called Chuck and he’s super cheesy. The perfect actor for the part I’d say. To bad DiCaprio hasn’t been in a decent film since “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”.
By Ian on June 12th, 2008 at 12:02 am
If superstardom is due anybody, it is Mr. Bushnell. He was the catalyst that made today’s gaming the multi-billion dollar industry that it is.
By Somebody on June 15th, 2008 at 8:37 am
There is this cool website called ShowbizPizza.com! It tells you history of Pizza Time
Theater, Chuck E Cheese’s, and Showbiz Pizza Place. You should also check out ShowbizPizzaForum.com which talks about Pizza Time Theater, Chuck E Cheese’s, and Showbiz Pizza Place.
By Darryl Heine on June 15th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Will the Nolan Bushnell biopic or movie with Leo D. feature a recreation of a 1977 Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre like the original on Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California had?
By Munchy9 on June 15th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
RE: There is this cool website called ShowbizPizza.com! It tells you history of Pizza Time Theater, Chuck E Cheese’s, and Showbiz Pizza Place. You should also check out ShowbizPizzaForum.com which talks about Pizza Time Theater, Chuck E Cheese’s, and Showbiz Pizza Place.
THAT WAS FROM ME
By Jumbot on August 10th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Nolan is truly the godfather for the video game industry. If 1% of the current companies and their executives had his vision, we would already be on Wii 3, Playstation 5 and Xbox 720…… This man deserves credit beyond what can be given, he is the Bill Gates of the video game industry. Lets not forget his little foray into the Fast Food market that created CEC!!! How much better does it get than that. In all of his dealings, he wound up creating an enviroment that is long missing in the U.S, a place where parents can bring their kids, have some decent food and play some games. CEC lives on as does Atari, however, imagine the possibilities that COULD HAVE BEEN, had these two combined forces at the right time. My hat is off to you Nolan.. Thanks for making my childgood more memorable than my adulthood so far!