So the cinematic version, opening Friday, stars Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Chris Rock, Elizabeth Banks, Dennis Quaid and others in intertwining tales about various experiences of pregnancy, from infertility and miscarriage to trouble-free twins.

Also opening Friday is “Battleship,” an action flick inspired by the 45-year-old board game starring Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker and Rihanna. Based on finding a hidden enemy by searching coordinates on a grid, the classic game may be best known to some readers by an old TV commercial in which an exasperated player proclaims, “You sank my battleship!” The film, set during a war games exercise on the Pacific Ocean, shows how the U.S. Navy might respond to an alien attack at sea.

“There are certain elements from the board game that lent themselves well to the DNA of a movie,” said director Pete Berg. “Two enemies trying to locate and kill each other violently is, good god, a movie… The rest is classic creative endeavor.”

Coming up with characters and narratives around popular brands that intrinsically have neither one has become business as usual in Hollywood.

“With movies costing so much, studios are looking for any kind of a hook that would ring a bell with an audience,” said veteran film critic Kenneth Turan, who writes for the Los Angeles Times. “It’s the same reason why they have all the sequels and things from TV shows and remakes: They’re desperate to ring that bell.”

Still, seizing on a popular brand doesn’t guarantee a successful film.

The 1985 film version of the board game “Clue” flopped (though it later gained a cult following). But “Transformers,” based on Hasbro’s shape-shifting robot toys, became a multi-billion-dollar global franchise.

Berg said turning “Battleship” into a movie “was one of the great and really fun creative challenges of my career.” The film has collected $215 million so far overseas, where it has been open for nearly five weeks.

As with “Battleship,” adapting advice books such as “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and Steve Harvey’s 2009 dating guide, “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man,” requires writers to develop characters and story lines that aren’t in the books.

“Think Like a Man,” which topped the box office for two weeks when it was released last month, successfully spun Harvey’s book into a romantic comedy following five couples navigating their relationship issues.

“One of the main challenges of an adaptation like this is the book already has a loyal following,” said producer Will Packer. “All you can really do is mess it up. It’s very tough to elevate it and take it beyond.”

The appeal of tapping such a successful book as source material is, of course, that it “potentially has a built-in audience,” Packer said. “It helps you cut through the clutter in a very, very crowded marketplace in terms of the outlets and mediums trying to get attention from consumers.”

Still, those who relied on “What to Expect” during their pregnancies won’t really find the book’s advice on screen.

“It’s the source material we wanted to include, but there’s so little there that was actually used,” said Heather Hach, who co-wrote the screenplay. “It’s not an adaptation in the truest sense, but without this wonderful pregnancy bible that countless women have consulted, the germ wouldn’t have been there.”

Director Kirk Jones said that while some have called adapting the pregnancy handbook “desperate,” anticipating a baby is a naturally funny experience.

“Just stop and look beyond the manual and think about pregnancy and that nine-month period: It affects guys and it affects girls in the most extraordinary ways,” he said. “It was really just taking the essence of the book… You’re basically enhancing the brand, because people are already familiar with the title.”

The book’s author, Heidi Murkoff, is one of the film’s executive producers. Hasbro’s president and chief executive, Brian Goldner, is a producer of “Battleship.”

Hach said guidebooks are great for adapting into movies: “What’s interesting about advice books is there are so many ways to tackle a problem. There are so many ways to think about a situation, and that’s what our characters are doing.”

Turan, the film critic, expects the trend to continue, whether or not the results are worthy.

“This is not about making good movies. It’s about getting people into theaters… Everything else is secondary,” he said. “They might make a movie out of Scrabble.”

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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Online:

http://whattoexpectthefilm.com/

http://www.battleshipmovie.com/

http://www.thinklikeaman-movie.com/

“I do like to work,” she said. “I’m very much a sleep-when-you’re-dead person.”

Banks has a very personal connection to “What to Expect When You’re Expecting.” She read the pregnancy manual while preparing to start her own family and said it kept her sane during the scary transition into first-time parenthood.

She and her husband, producer Max Handelman, welcomed son Felix last year, opting to use a gestational surrogate after facing infertility. Banks connected to the film adaptation of “What to Expect” because it’s less about pregnancy and more about parenting.

“When I was going through my battle with infertility, I got wonderful advice, which was: Why are you so worried about the pregnancy? Just get the baby whatever way you can get your baby,” she said. “Pregnant women would say, ‘Yeah, pregnancy is really great and lovely, but then you go to the hospital and they give you your baby and you have to mother it.’ That’s the part that’s important, mothering the baby, and at the end of the day, that’s what this movie is about.”

Banks plays Wendy Cooper, a perky lactation expert and pregnancy authority whose own expectant experience isn’t the glowy, blissful one she’d hoped for.

“All the not-so-wonderful things about pregnancy that are possible — like flatulence, acne, constipation, swollen ankles, fatigue and anxiety — happen to Wendy,” said director Kirk Jones. “Elizabeth Banks is just a genius comedian and she played everything so beautifully.”

Though Banks wore a fake tummy in the film, “a prosthetic belly is not the same as being pregnant.”

“It’s an approximation of the physicality you have as a pregnant person,” she said. “It makes you walk differently and sit differently, eat differently, and it provides a wonderful shelf for your coffee mug. And it’s heavy, so your back aches, so it’s a wonderful approximation.”

Though the part didn’t really make her feel pregnant, Banks admits she was “definitely moved at the end (of the film) when they all got a baby.”

The actress will be back on screen next month in “People Like Us,” which she describes as “a beautiful, wonderful story about people who find family.” Next up is “Pitch Perfect,” which she produced with her husband: A comedy set in the competitive world of collegiate acapella. Banks said it’s the hardest she has ever worked.

“It’s like birthing a baby almost!” she said. “Until it’s out to the world, there’s no end to worrying about it.”

The film is due in the fall, right when she returns to the world of “The Hunger Games” to film its second installment, “Catching Fire.”

Her turn as the super-coiffed Effie Trinket has won Banks younger fans and reinvigorated her passion for acting.

“I just love Effie so much,” the actress said. “She’s a really amazing character, a complicated, interesting, wild character to play — the type of character that when you’re a young actor you dream of getting to play, and I get to do it now.”

Even if it is all a little exhausting.

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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Online:

www.elizabethbanks.com

Executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic, who worked with Brand on the VMAs, calls the actor-comedian “such a brilliant talent.”

“He brings the funny but he also has that rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic,” he said.

The top contenders at the 21st annual MTV Movie Awards are “The Hunger Games” and “Bridesmaids,” which have eight nominations each, including bids for best cast, breakthrough performance and movie of the year. The show also includes offbeat categories such as best kiss, best fight, and best on-screen dirtbag. Fans can select the winners by casting votes online.

Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg are among the stars set to appear at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, which will be presented June 3 at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, Calif., and broadcast live on MTV.

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Online:

www.MovieAwards.MTV.com

More than a million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are expected to return to the U.S. over the next five years, said Chris Marvin, director of Got Your 6.

“Got your six” is military lingo, an expression of solidarity that means “I’ve got your back and I know you’ve got mine,” Marvin said.

“It means we’re watching out for each other and we’re all in this together,” he said. The saying originated with pilots engaged in dogfights before expanding throughout the military, but Marvin said it applies perfectly to the alliance of entertainment powerhouses that adopted it: “These different entities all agree that the way we work with and deal with our military veterans and their families is crucially important to the future of this country.”

Through scripted story lines, celebrity public service announcements and employment and education outreach, Got Your 6 aims to ease veterans’ return to civilian life by encouraging Americans to recognize them as valuable community leaders.

The effort was inspired by Michelle Obama’s Joining Forces campaign and conceived with the support of the Clinton Global Initiative.

“The entertainment industry captures our imaginations, opens our eyes and touches our hearts, and I’m proud to work with them on our Joining Forces initiative,” the first lady said in a statement Wednesday. “By sharing the stories of strength and resilience that define our military families, we can motivate even more Americans to honor these courageous individuals in new ways.”

The entertainment industry has the power to influence everyday Americans, Marvin said, and he hopes to see programs that portray veterans as more than just heroes or victims of post-traumatic stress, but skilled leaders ready to contribute to their communities in myriad ways.

Public service announcements featuring stars including Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin, Sarah Jessica Parker and Michael Douglas will begin airing Thursday, and the industry’s commitment to Got Your 6 is ongoing.

“It will take time, and the sooner we do it and the sooner we start it, the better,” Meyer, a former Marine, said in an interview Wednesday. “This is one (cause) that’s important for everyone. This is very real and very much here and one we can beat… This is one we can do something about right now.”

Among the elements of the campaign is a promise from Disney and Comcast to hire 1,000 veterans apiece. Besides hiring, Meyer said to expect the entertainment industry’s efforts to come through on screen.

“As corny as it sounds, we’re storytellers. We have the ability to get the message out in so many ways,” he said. “We can get the message out through talent or through story.”

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

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Online:

www.gotyour6.org