Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow, the modern spin on party game classic Werewolf, is being turned into a movie
Lupin co-creator on board as writer.
The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow is getting a movie adaptation from the co-creator of Netflix series Lupin.
Released in 2001, Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow is an evolution of the classic social deduction game Werewolf, originally known as Mafia. In the game, each player is assigned a hidden role that can include regular villagers, unique characters with special gameplay abilities - such as the seer, hunter and thief - and werewolves.
The first half of each round (the ‘night’) is played with the players’ eyes shut. A player in the role of moderator asks each role to open their eyes at specific points during the round, silently performing their action - from protecting a player from elimination to identifying a player’s role - before closing their eyes again. The werewolves decide on a player to permanently eliminate. When the second half of the round (the ‘day’) begins, the moderator announces who was killed, before the players attempt to work out who among them is a werewolf and vote on someone to eliminate.
The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow movie comes via a partnership between the Entertainment division of board game giant Asmodee, which owns the game’s publisher Zygomatic, and French TV and film company Radar Films, which will develop the project for the big screen.
Set to pen the script is François Uzan, who co-created this year’s Netflix series Lupin - based on the classic French thief character Arsène Lupin - and is said to have played the party game for a number of years.
The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow film will follow the “game’s story of a small village haunted by werewolves”, with Uzan also planning to mix the existing premise with “my own universe”, according to the announcement.
A potential release date is currently unclear, with Asmodee saying it had so far “entered into an film option agreement” with Radar Films to develop the film and bring Uzan on board as writer - meaning the project is still in its early stages.
The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow is far from the first tabletop game to be turned into a film, joining Catan and Dungeons & Dragons adaptations currently in the works. Meanwhile, Magic: The Gathering and Risk have TV series in the works, and Cluedo (already a film, of course) is becoming an animated series, while Ticket to Ride, Trivial Pursuit and Uno have all inspired game shows. Phew.
In fact, The Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow isn’t even the first film based on Werewolf to surface in recent months, following the release of Werewolves Within - a movie based on a VR game version of the in-person party game - over the summer to warm reviews.