Whether one thinks its warranted or unwarranted, movie adaptations of video games have garnered a reputation of being not very good as a whole. More recent video game adaptations seem determined to try and change that, hiring all-star casts, directors, and writing teams.
On top of the teams involved, contemporary adaptatons havea few advantages over their predecessors. Improvements in special effects, for example, mean that films can replicate the looks of video games more accurately and on a grander scale. Additionally, many of these films are now being made by people who loved and played the video games being adapted, who will have a better idea of when to be tongue-in-cheek and when to be serious, and who know what elements are important to fans.
RELATED:Resident Evil Fans Find Another RE1 Easter Egg Hidden In The Movie Trailer
Of course,adaptations can be poor despite all of this, but video game movies are still destined to do decently at the box office due to the power of fans and nostalgia. Perhaps because of this, there are many movie adaptations of popular video games in various stages of production right now, soon to be judged by fans and new audiences alike.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Writer and director Johannes Roberts said that he aimed forResident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon Cityto be a faithful adaptation of the massively popular video games. The first major trailer for the film makes this clear; the horror heavy trailer features some shots that aretaken directly from the games themselves, with a lot of people and place details that are loyal to the source material. Roberts has great love for the game series, which follows a group of people battling against the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company that, in doing bio-organic weapons research, created mutagens that transform humans into zombies and other animals and plants into horrifying monsters.The cast of iconic charactersincludes Kaya Scodelario as Claire Redfield, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, and Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy. The film will be released in theatres on November 24th, 2021.
Uncharted
After years of anUnchartedmovie being stuck in development hell, fans were excited when the film finally went into production in 2020. Director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriters Rafe Judkins, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway created a movie that is a prequel to the games themselves, telling the story of how Nathan Drake became a treasure hunter.Spider-Manstar Tom Holland plays a younger version of Drake, with Mark Wahlberg as Sully and Sophia Taylor Ali appearing as a young Chloe Frazer. Despite being a prequel,the recently released trailerreveals some set pieces and action sequences that fans of theUnchartedgames may be familiar with. The action-packed adventure will come to theatres on July 28, 2025.
Borderlands
Dubbed a science fiction action comedy film, this adaptation has been directed byHosteldirector Eli Roth and co-written by him and Craig Mazin. The movie is said to not be a direct adaptation of any of theBorderlandsgames; the official synopsis says that it follows the infamous outlaw Lilith back to her home planet of Pandora to find the missing daughter of Atlas with an unexpected group of allies. The movie’s all-star cast has got a lot of attention, with Cate Blanchett starring as Lilith, Kevin Hart as Roland, Jack Black as Claptrap, Jamie Lee Curtis as Tannis, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, andEdgar Ramirez as Atlas. Filming wrapped June 18, 2025, and there is no announced release date as of yet, but it will be interesting to see how this cast and this world merge with Roth’s often offbeat sense of humor.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
The 2020Sonic the Hedgehogmovie became infamous for being massively delayed so that the character of Sonic could be re-animated. Despite this and mixed reviews from critics,Sonic the Hedgehogwas a box office success, enough of one to earn a sequel from the same team.Parks and Recreation’s Ben Schwartz returns as the voice of Sonic, and Jim Carrey, James Marsden, and Tika Sumpter will be reprising their roles as well.Sonic the Hedgehog 2will also introduce one of the most popular characters from the Sonic franchise, Knuckles,who will be voiced by Idris Elba. There is not yet a full trailer for the film, but it will be released in theatres on July 07, 2025, hopefully with fewer delays than the first film.
Super Mario Brothers Movie
While Italian plumber Mario and his friends are some of the most popular and well-known video game characters of all time, there have been very few film or TV adaptations. The one live-action movie adaptation, 1993’sSuper Mario Bros., is notoriously terrible and wasflamed by critics and audiences. Perhaps that is the reason why the newly announced movie adaptation, released as a joint project by Nintendo and Illumination, will be an animated feature instead.The movie has a big-name voice cast, starring Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike. The movie does not yet have a release date.
MORE:Why Did The Uncharted Movie Go With A Young Nathan Drake?
