Leo DiCaprio to Play Atari's Founding Nerd
Every time I think I'm finally sick to death of Leonardo DiCaprio he goes and does something awesome. This time he's signed on to play Nolan Bushnell, who invented the hypnotic mindfuck of Pong before founding Atari in a biopic about the legendary geek.
"Bushnell was an engineering student who went from fixing broken pinball machines to launching the Atari Corporation in 1972 (a reference to a check-like position in Go, one of Nolan's favorite games) where he created Pong, which is often regarded as the world's first video arcade game (which is actually untrue, as Computer Space launched a year earlier). A home version was released in 1974 and took the world by storm. Nolan sold the company to Warner Communications for a mere $28 million, to get the capital to release the Atari 2600, credited with popularizing the use cartridge based console video game systems. By 1979, the 2600 was the best-selling Christmas gift. By 1983, the company had sold over 8 million units. Nolan also created Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre (later known as just Chuck E. Cheese)." [SlashFilm via OhNoTheyDidn't]