Pixels (2015)

Pixels (marketed as Pixels: The Movie) is a 2015 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Chris Columbus, and written by Tim Herlihy and Tim Dowling. Loosely adapted from the 2010 short film, it stars Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Brian Cox. The film concerns an extraterrestrial force misinterpreting video feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war, resulting in them invading Earth with technological recreations of icons from the games. The president of the United States promptly assembles a team of former arcade champions to lead the planet's defense.

Development began in 2010, when Sandler obtained the rights to Patrick Jean's short film via his Happy Madison Productions company and began developing the script with Herlihy. In 2013, Columbus entered talks to direct the film, drawn to the 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. Filming took place in Toronto for three months, which involved extensive night shoots and practical sets. Post-production, led by Digital Domain and Sony Pictures Imageworks, focused on creating voxelized and three-dimensional versions of arcade 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.