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Recent trends in the movie and gaming industries show that both are ready for a fruitful collaboration. Successful adaptations and a growing number of dedicated fans make game-based movies a promising genre for producers, game creators, and ordinary viewers. Will this momentary hype turn into an established money-spinner? What are the future paths for this entertainment? Let’s study the main drifts of the trend.
Driving Factors to Develop the Game Movie Genre
There’s a shift in expectations. Gaming is accumulating bigger and bigger fan bases, so ignoring their preferences is like throwing money out of the window. Even the gambling industry adapts popular titles into video slots. Some UK casinos not on GamStop have a decent selection of them for avid fans.
Adapting games to movies is fresh, too. It also motivates filmmakers. Superhero scenarios became dead for many cinema lovers long ago. Viewers want new genres and fresh plots on screen. From this perspective, the gaming industry is a treasure box of ideas and solutions.
The gaming world is set to profit from this trend as well. Movie adaptations can attract millions of fans. All sorts of shooters and blockchain games can skyrocket in popularity. This may extend the budgets of small but innovative game studios and raise the overall capacity of the entire industry.
Another driver is the rapid rise in technology. Film creators have every means to adapt even the weirdest scenarios to live-action or animation. They can analyse the previous experiments with game-based adaptations and follow the best practices using AI visualisation tools and other instruments.
First Adaptations’ Advances & Failures
The first live-action adaptation was Super Mario Bros. (1993), which has been considered one of the worst game adaptations ever. The initial material could have brought fame to the movie, but it failed commercially and was savaged by critics.
The biggest drawback was the lack of connection to the source plot. Fans were disappointed with the silly storyline and how their beloved character was adapted to the big screen. Instead, such series as Resident Evil and Silent Hill became iconic for their authentic horror atmospheres and engaging plots. So, the genre has survived.
Key Challenges
How to film a successful game movie? Guidelines come from both big success stories and total failures. Surely, the main goal is to respect primary sources and background materials. It doesn’t mean that a good adaptation should have a predefined storyline. There can be changes, but they must be creatively rich and fascinate fans of the chosen game.
Whether it is horror like Five Nights at Freddy’s or social comedy like The Sims, film producers should show dedication to the given genre and plot. They must be ready to invest enough to captivate both gamers and cinema fans. It’s also important to expand access to the content by providing it through popular streaming services and similar platforms.
What to Expect in the Next Adaptations?
The gamer community is anticipating new adaptations of their favourite games. Soon, we’ll see such pieces as Mortal Kombat 2, The Last of Us series, Ghost of Tsushima, The Legend of Zelda, etc. However, the general trends in the game-movie industry will be as follows:
More Live-Action. Gamers are fond of real actors bringing their digital heroes and heroines to life on screen.
Big-budget adaptations. Previous experiences show that proper budgeting is crucial for the result. Film producers are ready to invest heavily in promising game adaptations.
Genre mix. Game-based movies initially represent a mixed genre, so why not continue mixing them? Expect to see combos of live-action and animation, comedy and horror, etc., in a single piece.
Animation Still Rules. The success of such animated cartoons as Castlevania and Arcane drives film creators to produce big-budget animations based on popular games.
One more tendency is a long-term adaptation. Fans are sure to watch follow-ups in TV series such as Minecraft and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Final Word – Gaming Movies Are Here to Stay
Movie adaptations based on video games will continue to rise. They are a promising trend for all the involved parties. Gamers will enjoy their favourite characters in live-action and animated films. Cinema fans will have a great opportunity to discover new genres and storylines.
Filmmakers, in their turn, will have a chance to create outstanding box-office hits. Finally, the gaming industry will also benefit. Movie adaptations are sure to pay off with more users and greater investment. This will let game developers increase their budgets and enhance their creative power. The final beneficiary is the ordinary player, so let’s see it filmed!