Arad has worked as a producer for nearly every major film and TV show (if not all of them) based on Marvel Entertainment's characters, from the X-Men: The Animated Series to Iron Man 2 to the upcoming Thor film, and now he wants to create a show that "speaks to teenagers and tells the story of a hero who doesn't know his own strengths".
"We wanted to keep Pac-Man the same lovable guy he has always been, but [put him] in the 21st century," said Arad,
according to a report from Variety. "We [also] wanted to talk about real stories and … see how they can relate to our lives, being in high school and being a teenager. At the end of the day, it's the story of a reluctant hero."
This wouldn't be the first
Pac-Man animated series, as Hanna-Barbera created a cartoon for the yellow mascot in the early 1980s starring a grown-up Pac-Man, his wife (Pepper), their child (Pac-Baby), and their pets. That program ran on ABC for two seasons, with two holiday specials also produced.
Arad's idea for 3D
Pac-Man show has the pellet-eating creature still in high school and trying to save the world from ghosts -- but not the same ghosts from the arcade game. Pinky, Inky, Blinky, and Clyde are depicted as friendly ghosts who work with Pac-Man and others to fend off the rival ghosts.
Namco and Arad brought a three-minute teaser for the concept to E3 but haven't yet approached studios or distributors with the project, as they wanted to unveil it at its party celebrating Pac-Man's 30th birthday.
"We feel we have a unique opportunity to have an action adventure, human interest story," said Arad. "As a filmmaker, it's a unique opportunity to get to know the characters you play. … We don't know what happened to Pac-Man's parents. He's the only yellow one in Pac-Land; what does that mean? Is it a social statement? We'll find out."
