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Settlers of Catan Is Getting Turned into a Movie for Some Reason

Will it tell the story of a young ore miner on a quest to build the longest road?
Image via Flickr user Michael Saechang

Battleship may have been a weird, Michael Bay–aping mess, but that hasn't stopped the inevitable onslaught of board game movies in its wake. Adam Sandler's troubled Candy Land movie is still apparently a thing, the Monopoly film no one asked for is coming, and now, it looks like another beloved board game will make its way to the big screen.

On Thursday, Variety reported that Sony Pictures is in talks to make a movie based on Klaus Teuber's best-selling board game Settlers of Catan.

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"As huge fans of the game, we're struck by the endless possibilities of stories that it could inspire," producer Gail Katz (The Perfect Storm, Air Force One) told Variety. "It's not every day that you have the opportunity to work in a world beloved by millions of people, and expand its story for the screen."

Catan is, admittedly, a brilliant board game. It takes all the strategy of Risk and shrinks it down to a manageable play time, with some wheat bartering in there to spice things up. Players trade and build their way across the bountiful island of Catan—which is preternaturally stocked with sheep and iron ore.

According to Variety, the game has sold more than 25 million copies around the world, and has been translated into 38 different languages, so there's definitely a market for a Catan film adaptation. But, like all board game movies, there comes the problem of what the hell Catan: The Major Motion Picture will actually be about.

Will it tell the story of a burgeoning agricultural community thrown into mayhem when a darkly dressed robber comes to town? Or a ruthless developer as he systematically depletes an island's natural resources? Or focus on a small farming town surrounded by wheat fields who prays for a year of plenty? Or maybe the whole thing will just be about a young ore miner on a quest to build the longest road.

Along with Katz, The Lego Movie producer Dan Lin is also onboard, with a script penned by Blaise Hemingway—the guy who's also writing the upcoming Playmobil movie. It's still too early to know who might star, but Matthew McConaughey will probably play the robber or whatever.

Related: The Mystical Universe of Magic: The Gathering