James takes a look at why we aren’t seeing more successful video game movies. 

Here’s a great article from The Atlantic speculating why there hasn’t been a video-game movie boom. The article largely compares the possible video-game movie boom with the very real comic-book movie boom we’ve seen lately, with superheroes dominating the action and summer movie landscapes. Superman and Batman had franchises in the 1970s, 80s and 90s but the turn of the millennium really brought about an explosion in superhero titles that we’re still in the midst of. The Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel have always been known and loved in the mainstream, so their film franchises made sense, but the last decade brought us vehicles for superheroes not many people knew. Who in the 90s would have guessed Daredevil would get a big-budget Hollywood movie, and when that failed, a second, because so many people were making hits with B or C list caped crimefighters?

And while it may have been surprising that this superhero boom took place, knowing what we know now, shouldn’t the video game industry be following suit? Comic books and video games do have a lot in common, so it’s not too much of a stretch. They are both largely seen as juvenile media that have been gaining adult respect over the last few decades and can be seen as appropriate for adults to take them seriously, emotionally and financially. Video games already come with narratives and chances to blow shit up, which are the only necessary ingredients for an action movie. Beyond that, more and more people are treating videogames as real art, and the stories are growing richer and more complex, so perhaps that credibility can be turned into hype for a good film, not just a silly popcorn movie.

But outside of that, and seemingly more important to the studios, video games are a big business. It depends on how you look at the numbers but many experts agree that the video game industry is bigger than Hollywood. That’s a lot of people playing video games who are engaged with these characters and would recognize their faces and adventures, which means potential ticket sales. Even ignoring the increasing artistic and cinematic quality of video games, isn’t brand recognition alone enough to get these projects greenlit?

I would argue yes, because while a video game movie boom makes sense, we appear be in the middle of a board game/toy movie boom instead. The latest Transformers franchise was, once again, one of the biggest movies of the year, but I’ll let you call that an exception as that has been on-going franchise complete with TV and movies happening for years, making it a reliable cashcow. However, last week we saw the release of the Battleship trailer (I know!), and there appear to be people working on movies for Monopoly, Ouija and Magic 8-Ball (seriously, seriously and yeah… seriously) with more in talks. Yes, one of those interviews is with Ridley Scott who isn’t exactly reliable for this kind of info, but these really are being discussed, and Battleship is absolutely already made, and has Rihanna in it, so you know they’re taking this seriously.

These properties don’t have a story, and most of the don’t even have characters, but people recognize the name and (the studios hope) that will get their asses in seats. Many games, such as Uncharted 2, advertise that they already seem so much like a movie. Games are getting more and more cinematic, with deeper narratives, longer cut scenes and better acting, so why not go all the way? There are plenty of good answers in the article I linked to and some hope for the future for those who want to see their favourite video game characters do their thing on the big screen. I refuse to believe one bad Mario movie and Uwe Boll have ruined this sub-genre forever and if there’s money to be made, someone will figure out how. And speaking of poorly made videogame movies, I would like to leave you with this video. I will give you no more explanation than the title but that should be enough.

Everything Chris Klein Says in “The Legend of Chun Li” from Jeff Rubin on Vimeo.