Film School Alum Sells Pitch to Adapt "Asteroids"

Matt Lopez (’93) pitched a project to adapt the classic Atari video game Asteroids for the big screen, and found himself in a four-studio bidding war over the right to run with the idea. In the end Universal Pictures outbid its competitors and hired Lopez to write the script. Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura has been tapped to produce the picture.

Lopez has had a full dance card in Hollywood lately. The 2008 Christmas season saw the release of Bedtime Stories, an Adam Sandler vehicle, which enjoyed a $27 million dollar opening weekend. His next project, Race to Witch Mountain, a Disney sci-fi action film, opened in the number one slot this past spring. And he recently finished the final draft of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a Jerry Bruckheimer production that will star Nicholas Cage. Now he’s working on the Asteroids adaptation and an action-adventure film called Bakugan, both for Universal.

Still, he’s making time in his busy schedule to visit his alma mater for the MFA graduation and screening in August. And while he’s here he’ll share some hard-won wisdom with film students.