DreamWorks Studios Acquires Film Rights to EA’s Need for Speed

DreamWorks Studios Acquires Film Rights to EA’s Need for Speed 

DreamWorks Studios has acquired the feature film rights to EA’s popular video game franchise, Need for Speed™, it was announced jointly today by DreamWorks CEO and Co-Chair Stacey Snider and EA President of Studios Frank Gibeau.

Brothers George and John Gatins developed the original story with George writing the feature’s screenplay. The screenplay is based on the Need for Speed series, but is not based on an individual game. EA will produce along with John Gatins and Mark Sourian. Scott Waugh is attached to direct, and the project will be fast-tracked at DreamWorks with a target production start date for early next year, for a 2014 release.

We are thrilled to be in business with our friends Steven Spielberg, Stacey Snider and the entire DreamWorks team. They are the perfect partner to take Need for Speed to the big screen by creating the exciting action film that we have always envisioned. –Frank Gibeau, President of EA Labels.

The film adaptation will be a fast-paced, high-octane film rooted in the tradition of the great car culture films of the 70s while being extremely faithful to the spirit of the video game franchise. In Need for Speed, the cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story keeps players at the edge of their seat.