Film adaptations of popular video games have been present in the entertainment industry for decades. Companies make these movies in order to create a bigger profit, attract loyal fans and increase attention towards the video game. But the goal of generating a large profit has not always been met in the past.
Often, video game movies are huge failures for companies. One of the biggest was 1997’s “Mortal Kombat, Annihilation.” The budget for this movie was 30 million USD and it only made a profit of 50 million USD: a huge failure. It is an old movie but certainly not the first unsuccessful movie based off of a video game.
One of the biggest franchises in all of video games is Mario. Many are unaware that there was a movie made in 1993 based on the game. The reason people have never heard of “Super Mario Bro.” the movie, is because of how it performed. The budget for the film was 48 million USD and the box office only yielded a return of 39 million USD. The kids game was adapted into a film full of drug references and adult jokes.
Despite many vain attempts to create perfect video game movies, companies continue to produce them. It may seem counterintuitive, but audiences really want to see the characters of the story come to life in a set way. Video games allow users to immerse themselves in an artificial world that they have some control over.
Players want to make the video game universe they play feel more real and the common two dimensional controls are rarely enough. The limits of the game leave the player yearning for more information to make the story come to life, and movies are the perfect answer. Fans hope to see a masterpiece in theaters that can help them fall in love with their games again.
The problem with this fantasy is video games often have a very long main story with lots of important details. Randy Gleason, creator of the website “How Long To Beat” said the main story of popular role-playing games takes an average of 23 hours to beat. This is much longer than 90-120 minute length of most popular movies.
Video games fill the story plot with lots of exciting action and important details that players tend to absorb and remember of the long play-time. Movies are not able to give viewers 23 hours worth of details in 120 minutes, let alone keep the movie engaging for all audiences. Important details are always left in an attempt to make a successful movie. The creators often forget the roots of the game in their adaptations, like the mario movie filled with references far too inappropriate for the game’s original audience.
The “Super Mario Bros.” movie set the standard for bad video game adaptations, and it seems as though other companies have had trouble as well. The task of converting a game into a movie for the same audience is a process that has taken time to develop. Recent films have done a much better job.
Pleasant Valley student Ethan Ferry said, “I think video game movies are wonderful.” They have gotten much better as time goes on. “It’s very hard to adapt some to movies but the ones out there are good. “Sonic” and “Detective Pikachu” were made.” explained Ferry. Modern video game movies like those mentioned by Ferry are bringing in a much larger profit margin than those of the past.
“Uncharted” was released in February and had a budget of 120 million USD. It has already generated 350 million USD globally, meaning it was a success. “Uncharted” did not follow the trend of failure set by so many other video game movies, and it may be a new start for other movies like it.
An Untitled Mario film will be released in December of 2022. Illumination and Nintendo are producing the film and it is anticipated to be a huge hit when compared to the original “Super Mario Bros.” movie. Only time will tell if the video game adaptations can complete the goals of bringing in profit and generating publicity to franchises.
