The Future
The future of video game movies is uncertain due to the long list of box-office disappointments, but today’s video games are as strong as ever and feature stories much stronger than the majority of movies being released today (see: Beverly Hills Chihuahua 1 & 2). So with that said, there’s a future for successful adaptations to happen, it really all depends on who gets their hands on them. If Christoper Nolan, Danny Boyle, David Fincher, James Cameron, or even someone like Peter Jackson were to stumble across some of these titles, the ceiling significantly increases for how well these games could be adapted for the big screen. So here are 5 video games that could potentially be successful movie franchises.
5 – God of War: God of War has the potential to be a great franchise or a complete bust due to its title character, Kratos. Kratos is incredibaly enjoyable when you’re playing as him, but if you put the controller down you realize he is a complete asshole. He is selfish and arrogant, but man is he fun to play as. The game’s plot is this: Facing death in war, Kratos, a captain of the Spartan army, calls to the God of War Ares to spare his life and to give him the power to defeat his enemies and in return he will pledge his allegance. Ares hears Kratos and gives him the tools needed to not only survive but win the war. To speed this up, Kratos eventually murders his wife and child accidentally while leading his army on a rampage of a village. Devastated, he blames Ares and vows to kill the God of War, taking anyone and everyone out who stands in his way. The story is fantastic to play through, but with a title character so unlikable and with movies like Clash of the Titans and Immortals already out this could a tough one to adapt for the big screen.
4 – Dead Space: Dead Space is single-handedly the scariest video game experience out there, and even tops horror movies today. Playing on our universal fear of the dark and not being able to see the enemy, and add the isolation of space and you’ve got a sure-handed Hollywood horror experience. Think of it as a mixture of Alien and Event Horizon. The plot is rather simple – In the year 2508, engineer Isaac Clark and two other crew members crash their ship onto the USG Kellion, a mining ship hovering over a rocky planet, after responding to a distress signal. Once aboard they soon discover that they are not alone and that whatever is on the ship has killed its crew. You control Isaac Clarke to uncover the sudden death of the crew armed only with space-age engineering equipment. The story keeps things to a minimum for the most part and doesn’t get in its own way when telling it. Put in the right hands, this could be a horror classic among movies like Alien and The Thing (1982).
3 – Heavy Rain: A dramatic thriller modeled after film noir, this is one of those games that plays out like a movie the entire way, keeping you guessing until the very end. When Ethan Mars blacks out one day at the park with his son Shaun, he wakes up to find that he can’t his son anywhere. Shaun’s disappearance is soon linked to a serial of murders by the “Origami Killer” – whose MO is kidnapping children during the rainy fall season, only to have their bodies found later in a remote location, drowned and with an origami figure in their hand. Ethan is soon contacted by the Origami Killer and is given a list of things he must do in order to get his son back, things that will question his sense of right and wrong and how far he is willing to go in order to save his son. And he only has three days. With a twist ending and the noir feel the game gives, it has all the ingredients of a successful video game adaptation.
2 – Shadow of the Colossus: By sticking to the “less is more” theory, this game gives you the most rewarding gaming experience you’ll ever have. The story focuses on a young man who enters a forbidden land on horseback with the recent corpse of a young woman, whom he places on an alter. We never learn anything about their relationship or why he has brought her, but legend tells that if one finds and slays the 16 giant beasts across the land, simply known as colossi, then the power of life will be granted to whoever lay on the alter. There are no side quests or backstory, in this game you simply must travel across a vast expanse on horseback and defeat the sixteen colossi. By the time you’re through you have developed a real connection between your horse who has been with you through thick and thin, and are rewarded with an ending that could bring tears to a grown man’s eyes. I’m not sure how this experience could be put on film, maybe by reducing the 16 colossi down to 4, but the idea of a big screen adaptation has many fans drooling.
1 – Uncharted: Drakes Fortune: When people think of games that should be translated to film, this is one that comes up most frequently. Focusing on cinematic story telling and character development, Uncharted stands ready to take down Indiana Jones as the next great treasure hunting franchise… if put in the right hands. Claiming to be the descendant of Sir Francis Drake, the great explorer who is said to never of had any offspring and whose body was never found, the story focuses on Nathan Drake and his hunt for the legendary city of El Dorado where he believes Sir Francis Drake’s body can be found. The characters are great, the writing is fantastic, and the story tops many of the better films being released today. A plan for a feature film is in the works. David O. Russel was originally signed on to direct and Mark Wahlberg was set to star as Nathan Drake, but due to the fans’ outrage over the tampering to the core of the story and the choice of Wahlberg as Drake, Russell and Wahlberg have both left the film giving hope for a successful adaption to be made.
Was your favorite video game left out? How wrong were we about this list? Post your outrage below in the comment section. What video game do you think should be made into a feature film? Let us know below.
