Hollywood has struggled with the concept of a video game adaptation for many years. Some video games tell amazing and emotional stories, memorable for both players and viewers. Those same experiences have a hard time making it to the big screen in Hollywood, and they’re especially struggling to get made.
A lot of video games would get the Hollywood treatment, and some great-sounding adaptations were canceled. With streaming services offering so much content these days, perhaps video games will return as shows instead of movies.
8 Sly Cooper
Before making Ghost of TsushimaSucker Punch created the PlayStation exclusive series, Sly Cooper. This series followed the covert antics of a humanoid raccoon and his friends. In 2014, Sly Cooper received a teaser trailer for the potential of a movie coming to the big screen. However, after eight years, it’s safe to say that Sly Cooper’s movie is a heist that the Sly gang can’t pull off.
Sly Cooper would be Sony Entertainment’s big push into the movie world of their PlayStation brands. However, the box office failure of Ratchet and Clank had them cancel Sly Cooper end of 2017.
7 Assassin’s Creed 2
One of gaming’s most famous and beloved franchises, Assassin’s Creed, made its way to theaters in 2016. Unfortunately for fans of the franchise and newcomers alike, the film was a critical failure, as well as a not-so-great box office return. Since then, Michael Fassbender’s films have been discontinued and most likely canceled. This is due to the fact that Netflix is going on a journey to make several Assassin’s Creed show.
It’s a shame that another Michael Fassbender Assassin’s Creed movie will not take place as the actor is amazing for his dedication to physicality and his acting ability. It was brilliant casting, so using him for one movie seems such a waste.
6 god of war
After a tale of revenge and an interesting take on Greek mythology, god of war is a great franchise, with another sequel set to hit PlayStation consoles in late 2022. In the early 21st century, god of war would hit the big screen with producer Charles Roven talking about the game’s potential as a movie.
It’s a bit of a mess to find anything about the movie as it was first announced before its 2005 release god of war2. With scant information about the film, it’s about to be completely overshadowed by the fact that the franchise is set for the Amazon Prime Video treatment.
5 BioShock
After years in a cycle of difficult development, BioShock was finally ready to shoot. Just eight weeks before its development date, the film was canceled and talks about it seemed to stall. The series is ripe for a series or a movie, given the very interesting visuals and world construction.
Fans won’t have to wait long as the series is ready for the Netflix treatment. It’s funny to look back so long ago and see a movie where fresh-faced Eddie Redmayne was in the running to star in a video game movie.
4 Tomb Raider 2
2018 saw the return of Tomb Raider to the big screen, featuring a brand new portrayal of the character since the Angelina Jolie-directed films. The film did just fine, both critically and commercially. However, recent issues have come to light regarding the bidding war that started over the film rights to: Tomb Raider. As such, it appears that Alicia Vikander’s Tomb Raider becomes an artifact.
Because MGM has not officially given the green light Tomb Raider2 by May 2022, the production company responsible for the first film will have lost the rights, and the incredibly popular video game franchise is returning to just that: a video game.
3 Duty
Few video game franchises are as chock-full of releases as Duty. There is a new title almost every year, with a new story and new gameplay. As for video games, Duty isn’t one that people would expect to be a movie since it’s a first-person title. This has not stopped cinematic experiences such as: Call of Duty Black Ops was written by David S. Goyer.
Since 2017, Activision Blizzard Studios are planning a “Marvel style” Duty movie universe.” How that would work, only Activision Blizzard Studios knows. However, given the original director, Stefano Sollima, stated in 2020 that these films were not a priority, it is safe to assume that these films are dead in the water.
2 Halo
Few franchises have seen more directors than there are actual sequels. Halo has added names such as Neill Blomkamp, Alex Garland and Peter Jackson. However, these films never saw the light of day, and the curse of Halo‘live-action film debut now seems to rest forever, thanks to Paramount Plus’ Halo series.
Halo is one of the most beloved franchises in the video game scene. Since 2001 Halo: Battles Evolvedthe universe and especially Master Chief have become game icons worthy of a story to be told with a big budget sci-fi blockbuster.
1 The last of us
In 2013, Naughty Dog released their most cinematic game ever. The last of us was a marvel for storytelling and tested what video games could offer gamers in terms of emotion and story. It wasn’t long before Sony Entertainment announced that a cinematic version of The last of us was in development, with Sam Raimi actively involved in production.
After years of no news of production, Sony inevitably canceled it. Neil Druckmann, the game’s writer and director, even came out to comment on the cancellation, revealing that the studio, Druckmann and Sony could not agree on a faithful adaptation. However, The last of us will be released as an HBO Max show in 2023.
0 Comments