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Pixels is a 2015 science fiction action comedy film directed by Chris Columbus from a screenplay by Tim Herlihy and Tim Dowling. Loosely adapted from the 2010 French short film by Patrick Jean, the film stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, and Brian Cox. In the film, an alien force misinterprets videotaped footage of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, resulting in them attacking Earth with technological recreations of icons from the games; the president of the United States assembles a team of former arcade champions to lead the planet's defense.
Development on the film began in 2010, when Sandler obtained the rights to the short film via his Happy Madison Productions company and hired Herlihy to write the script, with Dowling brought on for rewrites later in production. In 2013, Columbus entered talks to direct the film after being drawn to its nostalgic homage to 1980s arcade games such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders, all of which were licensed for use in the film. Principal photography took place in Toronto for three months, which involved extensive night shoots and practical sets. Visual effects and post-production, led by Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks, focused on creating voxelized and three-dimensional versions of arcade game characters to integrate into the live-action footage.
Pixels was released theatrically in the United States on July 24, 2015, by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received negative reviews from critics and grossed $245 million on a budget of $110 million. It was deemed to become the last Happy Madison film to be released in theaters, by the following deal from Netflix.
