Margot Robbie’s company to produce new Monopoly film

Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment production company have announced that they are producing a new film based on the classic board game, Monopoly.

The Oscar-nominated Australian star, who co-owns Lucky Chap with her husband Tom Ackerley, will be looking to repeat the success of their 2023 offerings, the word-of-mouth sensation Saltburn and the record-breaking Barbie, which went on the collect $1.38bn (£1.1bn) at the global box office and receive eight Oscar nominations.

Much like that film, the idea of a film version of Monopoly has been knocking around Hollywood for the best part of a decade with the project seeing many versions come and go before last week’s announcement.

It’s not the only similarity the two projects share either. Once again, the owner of the intellectual property (IP), in this case American toy company Hasbro Entertainment, will board as co-producers, much as Mattel were for Barbie. There could be parallels too in how the film handles the subject matter of the product at the centre. Where Barbie succeeded in balancing the toy’s origins with a new and surprisingly subversive feminist sensitivity, it is rumoured that this vehicle may reflect an anti-capitalist messaging true to the game’s original story.

Bestselling board game Monopoly was first created by a left-wing feminist in 1904 with the name Landlord’s Game before becoming a mainstream staple 30 years later when it hit depression-hit America marketed as Monopoly.

The film will represent the latest addition to the LuckyChap output, joining the likes of I, Tonya, Birds of Prey, Promising Young Woman as well as the previously announced adaptation of hugely popular computer game The Sims.

There is no word as yet on potential cast or director names but Robbie has previously spoken about the company’s focus on promoting female and underrepresented voices behind and in front of the camera.