Hollywood Loses Dignity, Finds Waldo

Variety is reporting that Universal studios and Illumination Entertainment have bought the film rights for “Where’s Waldo?”

The scary thing here is not that a movie studio is actually planning on making live-action where’s Waldo movie. The true horror is that there was a bidding war over it.

Among other bidders, Warner Bros. chased the property for Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne’s Unique Features banner. The rights were brokered by Classic Media’s Eric Ellenbogen, who’ll be executive producer.

Written and illustrated by Martin Handford, the “Waldo” books have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The books contain complex, full-page illustrations of large crowd scenes in which the main character is somewhere hidden, dressed in a red-and-white shirt, a hat, glasses and a walking stick.

U and Illumination will seek to create a movie with strong global appeal.