Uncharted was just the start this year…..

A month ago we reviewed Sony’s Uncharted movie. A movie which we thought was serviceable enough as an action flick even if it did so bye changing or outright ignoring some of the biggest parts of the Uncharted games and just going for its own moves instead. But if you thought Sony adapting one of their biggest franchises into a (very different) movie, you would be quite wrong, because video game movies and TV series might actually outnumber superhero adaptations this year, and with Microsoft and Paramount’s Halo releasing today, we think it’s time we talked a bit about all these adaptations.

Now let’s start with the obvious question: why are they so many Video games being turned into big budget movies or TV shows that rival them anyway? Well a dedicated fan would probably tell you that this is nothing new, with Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies being released in the 90’s (to varying degrees of success). However there definitely has been an undeniable spike in video game properties hitting our cinema or streaming screens all to varying levels of success. The common theme is actually to think video game movies are terrible, being half hearted cash grabs that barely push their franchises forward. However a more nuanced eye may show some differences here, as among the complaints for last year’s Mortal Kombat film and the unbearable Super Mario brothers film, lies successes like Netflix’s CastleVania and 2019’s Detective Pikachu movie. Both which are considered successes. Even the unexpected 2020 Sonic film is becoming a franchise of its own, with a second movie about to release and fan hype around it being considerably high. So these properties can be good, so is that why studios are so excited to adapt them? Well …. we wish that was the case, but the honest truth is and always will be: money.

Video games have become more popular than ever now, we live in an age where gamer boys are now young fathers and play FIFA with their kids, where even your mother might know what candy crush is and where even Angry birds is a franchise that has movies and shows about it. Video games are a key part of pop culture now, and next to books and comics they’re the next best thing to mine for movie and series ideas. For movies, that’s because, as usual, movies are a business of butts in cinema seats , meaning the more people can watch movies in cinemas, the more money that movie will make. And people tend to want to watch a movie when they recognize some aspect of it. In past this used to be big name actors, but now considering even Bruce Willis and Liam Neeson can star in flops, that’s not a sure thing anymore. People tend to care more about franchises these days, which is why the MCU , Fast & Furious and DC movies are often some of the highest earners of their respective release years.

And since we’ve already exhausted a large amount of comic book franchises, video games seem to be the logical next best thing. The same partially applies to series too, which while they usually tend to be a more diverse and creative space have started to settle into certain niches because of one major thing: streaming services. These essentially took over since the pandemic hit and now every single major streaming service is looking for big shows or properties to attract more subscribers. Halo is a prime example of this, being Microsoft’s biggest franchise for the Xbox and having an incredibly dedicated fanbase that has been waiting for something since 2012. This is why Paramount Plus, a relatively newer player in the streaming wars is pushing this show as a flagship of sorts, and is definitely hoping it returns on the investment. And Paramount Plus isn’t the only streaming service riding this wave. Netflix has actually made an amazing reputation being a home for successful animated adaptations as well. The aforementioned CastleVania comes to mind, but also Arcane(based on League of Legends) and Cuphead have been big successes in recent months and have made Netflix basically become a home for good game adaptations. This is probably why Netflix now has a Tekken series coming up later in the year as well , and if it’s anything like the last three successes, it might just be the rightful claimer of Netflix’s “anime” title that it puts on all its animated shows.

And the list for adaptations still goes much further, there’s a “The Last of Us” show being produced, a rumored God of War series, a Sly Cooper adaptation as well, Super Mario Brothers is getting a reboot staring Chris Pratt and the recently acquired Bungie has high hopes that Sony will do for destiny what Microsoft has done for Halo. Basically, it’s an advent as scary as the superhero boom once the MCU really got started, and it should be stated that it probably means a lot of the movies and shows that come up might not be so good, just like we had to endure The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Fant4stic to get to Spider-Man : No Way Home and Deadpool. It’s all a process, and all we can really do is wade through the bad or mediocre and keep asking for better till we get the really good. And how will you know which releases are the good ones? Well that’s what we’re here for. Just watch out for that Chriss Pratt Mario movie because even we don’t trust that one.

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