Ellen Page is returning to the video game scene in the new film 1UP. Produced by BuzzFeed Studios, the film is “in the vein of Pitch Perfect” and tackles both the eSports world and the GamerGate scandal.
According to Hollywood Reporter, 1UP will star Page (Umbrella Academy), and Paris Berelc (Hubie Halloween, Alexa & Katie); with Kyle Newman (Fanboys, Barely Lethal) will direct, with the script penned by Julia Yorks (Skylanders Academy). Production will begin in Toronto this month.
The film will follow Vivian Lee (Berelc), a college student who puts together a Varsity women’s eSports team after being driven from the community by sexism. She’ll have assistance from, “an enigmatic coach who returns to the spotlight after her own GamerGate scandal” (Page) and will recruit, “an unlikely crew of unskilled misfits” in underdog comedy style.
1UP is the first movie from BuzzFeed Studios. In July, the digital media behemoth announced a partnership with Lionsgate “to develop, produce and distribute a multi-picture slate of socially relevant and high-concept feature films for global millennial and Gen Z audiences […] each with unique, primarily digital, distribution strategies.”
Ellen Page portrayed Jodie Holmes in 2013’s Beyond: Two Souls from Quantic Dream and director David Cage. Despite its divisive response, she was praised for her motion-capture performance.