Universal, Hasbro Revive Ouija Plans

Ouija

, a suspense thriller inspired by one of Hasbro’s most iconic brands. The movie is scheduled for a 2013 release and will be done reportedly at a significantly lower budget than the original $100 million.

Ouija

will be produced by Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir, Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form for Platinum Dunes, and Jason Blum for Blumhouse.

The Ouija board, which was created by William Fuld in the 1890’s at the height of the spiritualism movement, features the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, the words, “yes,” “no,” and “goodbye.” Users place their hands on a planchette at the board's center and ask question as the planchette’s movements indicate the answers. 

Platinum Dunes is known for its suspense projects including popular remakes of

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

,

The Amityville Horror

,

Friday the 13th

, and

A Nightmare on Elm Street

.  It is currently

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

for Paramount Pictures with Jonathan Liebesman as director. 

Blumhouse is known for its low-budget, high concept films including films such as the

Paranormal Activity

franchise and

Insidious

.

Hasbro and Universal have teamed to produce

Battleship

, which opens in the U.S. on May 18 and features an extensive licensing program.

Hasbro also has

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

releasing June 29 and

Transformers 4

in development for 2014, both with Paramount Pictures.