Filmmaker Michael Bay sees "Ouija" in future

By Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Transformers" director will reunite with Hasbro to bring the toymaker's supernatural game "Ouija Board" to the big screen.

Bay will serve as a producer through his company Platinum Dunes, known for such horror remakes as "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "The Hitcher" and "The Amityville Horror." As a director, he was most recently in theaters with last summer's smash "Transformers," based on the versatile Hasbro figures.

Although details of the new film are being kept under wraps, it will be a supernatural adventure with the Ouija board playing an integral part. The movie is not taking a "Jumanji"-like approach, which involved a game coming to life.

While divination or spiritual boards have been around for centuries, they began being sold as novelty items in the late 1800s, with the first Ouija board, one with an alphabet on it, being patented in 1890. Players' fingers are placed on a small planchette that mysteriously moves to letters and numbers in order to spell out messages from beyond the earthly realm.

The board has been produced by Hasbro's Parker Brothers since 1966, with millions being sold worldwide. The film is set up at Universal, where Hasbro has a six-year strategic partnership. It will be written by David Berenbaum, who penned "Elf" and worked on "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "Zoom," and "The Haunted Mansion."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter