Sony and Harry Potter director Chris Columbus are putting together an a-list cast of comedy stars for Pixels, a big-budget project the studio has been working on.

Pixels is based on the short film by Patrick Jean, featuring 1980s video game characters taking over New York City. The first script was written by Tim Herlihy and then Tim Dowling, who worked with Sandler on Just Go With It, took a look at the script. According to TheWrap, it is Dowling’s version that got Columbus and Sandler interested.

Sandler’s Happy Madison is producing and Horrible Bosses’ Seth Gordon is an executive producer with Jean. Jennifer Aniston, who starred in Just Go With It with Sandler, was interested in the project as well, but Mean Moms may take precedent for her.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sandler’s Grown Ups co-star Kevin James is in talks for a role, along with Frozen’s Josh Gad. Both are in early stages of negotiations, but the talks would have to get wrapped soon, since both have other obligations. Gad is set to star in FX’s Billy Crystal pilot The Comedians and James may soon make Paul Blart 2.

It’s not quite clear what roles the stars will play, but TheWrap notes that the script reportedly involves video game experts called in to stop the characters from taking over.

image courtesy of ABC/Randy Holmes