From Pixels to Box Office: The Growing Renaissance of Video Game for the Silver Screen

From TV screens to movie theatre screens, video games have taken over our lives, and this trend is only going to continue.

2023 was the biggest year for video game adaptations so far, with movies like Gran Turismo, Five Nights at Freddy’s and of course, the Super Mario Bros Movie all hitting the big screen this year to commercial and critical acclaim, with Mario grossing over $1 billion US dollars at the box office. As well as films, we have TV shows like Castlevania: Nocturne and The Last of Us. The latter of which was nominated and even won plenty of awards, such as The Game Award for Best Adaptation, MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Hero, Best Duo, and Best Show. Ten years ago, something like this would have been unheard of. The video game movie genre had tried and failed to gain an audience, with the likes of Mario Bros (1993) and Street Fighter (1994) being unsuccessful in adapting the material to Hollywood glory.

Illumination’s CEO, Chris Meledandri, said “There was this industry idea that video games weren’t adaptable IP.” This is because a video game is player-focused, the players are responsible for what happens on the screen, and we as an audience are active participants. As opposed to being on film, we as the audience are passive. We react to what is in front of us, but we have no way of altering the story or what happens. Most video games, especially those from the early generations, did not require a story to function. The gameplay was the core focus. While a film would fail to function without a story.

So, what is it that caused the turning point in video game adaptations? Well, one of the reasons has to do with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 2020. The movie released at a perfect time, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was able to have much more exposure as there were not any films releasing for a few months, causing the film to be a commercial success, grossing over 300 million USD, but also being a critical success too.

The film decided to go against the norm of adaptations of 'adapting' the video game onto the big screen, and instead created a new universe, with a new Sonic that was different from the one from the games, with a new personality, new goals, and new origins. Paramount wanted their own version of Sonic and made him more childlike, more immature but willing to learn. They even went all the way to give the hedgehog a complete makeover after the initial reveal had fans in shock at the state of the movie model. Sonic is a massive name in the media regardless, but the film still had to tell a compelling story and show a true interpretation of the blue blur to bring both old and new fans to cinema screens, and it did just that.

Dmitri Johnson was one of the co-producers of the Sonic movie, talked about the success of the movie in an interview from 2021. He talks about how big a success not just the production but the concept of movies that can do well based off video game IP.

"Everyone thought (Sonic) was a joke at first, but shortly after the film's release, the incoming calls increased from studios and networks saying, 'Hey, whaddya got next?'

Having creative directors and producers onboard is one of the main reasons that these new adaptations are so successful. Sonic 1 and 2 were both directed by Jeff Fowler. Despite his small credential record as a director, he has been a fan of the games for years and even got to work on one of the series’ games, Shadow the Hedgehog, as a visual effect artist. Having someone at the lead who knows the franchise inside and out will make it easier to adapt ideas and concepts that not only will make the product more entertaining but also fit and make sense as well.

2023's The Last of Us TV series is a remarkably close recreation of the original video game from ten years prior. HBO followed Paramount’s approach with Sonic, having someone who has worked on the game take the helm with game producer Neil Druckmann brought on as a producer for the show. It turned out to be a great adaptation of the video game and remains loyal to the IP by having the narrative be a close retelling, just with better shots given the increased budget.

The Mario movie was a joint effort between Illumination and Nintendo, with Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator and supposed ‘father’ of Mario having heavy involvement in the film's production. The 1993 original Mario Bros movie w by a married couple, Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, and were not involved with Nintendo at all. The Mario movie took a similar approach to the Sonic movie, having a new Mario, with a new voice, a fresh look, a new family, and a new origin. This is not the same Mario as in the games, meaning fans can watch this without feeling they have to interact with the video games to get the most out of it.

The two main factors established to make a good adaptation of a video game are that it needs to find the right balance of making something new whilst staying true to the source material. Audience members should be able to watch these films and get the same enjoyment out of them as those who have been fans of the game franchise for years. Secondly, ideally, involvement from the original company to ensure the product is up to their standard is best suited to this practice. Having someone on board who has been a part of the IP to guide the directors and producers so they work hand in hand will create the best possible outcome.

As we move into 2024, multiple video game adaptations are in the works. Sonic 3 and the Last of Us Season 2 are both in development, and Nintendo has recently greenlit the production of the first Legend of Zelda movie, but no word on a sequel to Mario just yet. We have other films upcoming such as a Minecraft movie, Fallout, Borderlands and more. It is a fun time to be a fan of video games, movies, or both!