Looks like ID4 and Twister were released before the movie came out? That's kinda interesting

curious that your curious ....
week off! ,to much spare time

I feel like Paramount studios seemed to have the majority of films made into pins. Maybe someone in their cross promotion/marketing department was into pinball? I'd like to know about the process a little more as well.

I would have liked to have seen an Escape From LA pin. We got Demo Man and Congo afterall, but i'm sure it's because the success wasnt as high as earlier in the decade with T2 and Addams.

The latest episode of The Silverball Chronicles touches on some of this. It also details some of the development of Johnny Mnemonic.

https://www.thepinballnetwork.net/e/silverball-chronicles-ep-14-gomez-this-one-has-a-lot-of-arcade-stuff/

Before. There was a time when Data East Pinball was trying to get really good at synchronizing with the release, or at least the publicity blitz, of a new movie. Last Action Hero dissuaded them somewhat, as they arranged a well-synchronized release, then the movie tanked. More recently, the notion has been that you only want to synchronize with the release of a sequel having a proven audience, not a new title.

>I'm basically wondering how much time a manufacturer was given to bang out a movie pin.

That's entirely the manufacturer's issue to deal with. If they need a year, then they have to lock in the license a year ahead.

>And did the studio have creative control over the pinball design? Or did the manufacturer watch the movie (sometimes beforehand) and were told to come up with something themselves?

The studio has approval rights. For a widely-licensed franchise like The Simpsons, they would have a style guide, design rules, etc. that could be delivered to the licensee as a starting point. The manufacturers get whatever advance clips the studio is willing to provide; it varies greatly. The manufacturer has to do most of the work, because the licensor hardly ever knows enough about what can/should be done to translate the theme into pinball. (Exception: Slash)

I learned most of these answers by attending game-designer seminars at pinball shows.
.................David Marston

They often made the pin at the same time the movie was being made. They’d get a script, maybe some dailies or an early rough cut, and try to have the pin on location by the movie launch

I heard a podcast (no idea which one) interview with Steve Ritchie talking about the T2 build and release. Apparently they had early access to the movie and worked closely with the studio to roll it out alongside the movie. I'm pretty sure he said he got work with Arnie too.

In the Batman Forever thread, someone from Sega's team mentioned they used assets based on an earlier cut of the film that was cut from the release.

I don’t know the exact answers to your question, but typically with these licensed entertainment tie ins (video games, pinball, what have you) the production begins long before the movie is released, but sometime after movie production has begun. They usually plan it so the tie in product is released at the same time as the movie. But delays happen on one or the other and often the tie in product comes out late or movie early. I would guess it took a company like Williams 1-2 years to design, manufacture and release a game.

And in the case of Star Wars P2K, get held back until the movie was out. Moving Revenge From Mars into the first P2K pin to be released.

Not pinball related. The Tron video game coincided with the movie release. Movie theaters got the games first so they'd both land about the same time.

LTG : )

I can’t remember where I heard it, but weren’t those working on Star Wars prevented from seeing a cut of the film until it was too late to meaningfully have good theme integration?

Just to go back a few years, Stern Electronics Meteor (1979) came out a few months before the movie.

I know the design team of "The Flintstones" got to fly out to LA during filming and where taken to the Bedrock set. Meet some cast etc...
But, never got to see a final cut of film.
The movie came out in May 1994, and the pin came out in July 94.
The film by July was a bomb and critical failure.
Not sure how pin sales where affected. 4800 units made.
With out a dought the pin is better than the movie.

Let’s not forget Williams IJ TPA, which covered 3 films really well.