It's no secret that Hollywood is notoriously well known for botching movies that are video game adaptations. From abysmal outings like Mortal Kombat: Annihilation to the downright disturbing in Super Mario Bros. (1993), Tinseltown has more than its fair share of box office bombs when it comes to their gross misinterpretations of video game stories.
However, there are video game movies that stand out on rare occasions and produce a box office success, like the original Mortal Kombat and the Tomb Raider remake. Unfortunately, these successes are few and far between. Yet this has not stopped producers and filmmakers from continuing their efforts to exploit the untapped potential of video game movies.
10 Possible: Minecraft Seems Trapped In Development Hell
Speaking of less promising development cycles, Minecraft: The Movie seems to also be stuck in development hell. Also being produced by Warner Bros., the iconic sandbox game has been in development as a film since at least 2014. Originally slated for release in May 2019, it was pushed back to March 4, 2022 before being delayed indefinitely due to the pandemic.
After Rob McElhenney left the project in 2018, Peter Sollett stepped in to direct, with Frozen 2's Allison Schroeder penning a story centered on the adventures of a teenage girl and her friends trying to save Overworld from an Ender Dragon. But, with no casting announcements as of yet, the future of this film looks tumultuous at best.
9 Confirmed: Tom Holland Takes On Uncharted's Nathan Drake
The biggest video game adapted film with a set release date would have to be Uncharted, set to hit theaters on February 18, 2022. Based on Naughty Dog's critically acclaimed series of the same name, the movie is set to feature established Hollywood stars Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg as a young Nathan Drake and his mentor Victor "Sully" Sullivan respectively.
Designed to be Drake's origin story, development for the film actually began back in 2008, a year after the first game's release. At the time, Nathan Fillion, Chris Pratt, and even Wahlberg himself were rumored to be playing the main character. As time stretched on, this obviously did not become the case, with Holland being announced for the role back in 2017.
8 Possible: Five Nights At Freddy's Ominously Creeps Along
Five Nights at Freddy's was first released by Scott Cawthon as an indie survival horror game in 2014. Since then, the game has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon that has spawned an entire franchise. While development on a movie version of the game dates back as far as 2015, the project really began to gain traction when Blumhouse Productions got involved in 2017.
Unfortunately, disagreements between Cawthon and Jason Blum—head of Blumhouse—on the narrative direction of the project have left the project in limbo. Although Harry Potter's Chris Columbus jumped on early to direct the film, Blum revealed that Columbus had left the project in September 2021, despite earlier promises the film was still in active development.
7 Confirmed: Speed Into Theaters With Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Sonic the Hedgehog was viciously pummeled by the Internet for the blue hedgehog's terrifying design when the original trailer debuted back in 2019. Fortunately, Paramount listened to fans scathing critiques of the film, and smartly delayed the film's release in order to redesign the titular character to be more source appropriate.
While a good deal of skepticism surrounded the movie up to its release, the initial 2020 film turned out to be a whole lot of fun, beating the odds to become a rare box office triumph. The world, however, was surprised when it was revealed in February 2021 that a sequel was not only already in development, but was slated to release April 8, 2022.
6 Possible: Tom Clancy's The Division Will Land On Netflix
The live-action adaptation of Tom Clancy's The Division is another movie that shows promise for a more imminent future release. Based on the 2016 video game set in a post-apocalyptic New York City, Ubisoft's entry would be the first Tom Clancy adaptation to make it to the big screen should the movie complete development and secure a release date.
Furthermore, the film secured well-established actors in Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain as leads. Unfortunately, the film has been in pre-production for some time now, switching hands from Deadpool 2's David Leitch to Rawson Marshall Thurber. The latest update on the film came in 2019, where it was revealed that Netflix acquired the rights to the project.
5 Confirmed: Borderlands Is Set To See The Silver Screen Soon
The colorful, dystopian world of Pandora is supposed to find its way to the silver screen with Borderlands in 2022. Originally developed by Gearbox Software, the video game has become renowned for its satire and loot-driven multiplayer gameplay. The film's director—Eli Roth—promises that the film, however, can be enjoyed by both fans and newcomers alike.
Adding to that promise is an ensemble cast featuring Cate Blanchett as the protagonist Lilith, with Kevin Hart as Roland, Jack Black as Claptrap, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Tannis to back up the infamous outlaw. With principal photography wrapping in June 2021, the film looks to be on track for a release date sometime in 2022.
4 Possible: Alicia Vikander Returns In Tomb Raider: Obsidian
While there are numerous video game movies that have been announced, production for most of them has been suspended indefinitely due to the global pandemic. However, the development for a sequel to Tomb Raider (2018) starring Alicia Vikander looks promising, with director Misha Green revealing the working title to be Tomb Raider: Obsidian.
While Vikander revealed in July 2021 that the sequel hadn't been greenlit yet, Green's initial draft will supposedly see the intrepid archaeologist venture into Central America for a Mayan adventure, suggesting that the story will borrow elements from 2018's Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the third game in Square Enix's rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy.
3 Confirmed: Super Mario Bros. Lands Chris Pratt As A Lead
When completely and utterly failing to make a successful movie adaptation, wait two or three decades and try again. That's what seems to be the case with Super Mario Bros., at least. Fortunately, it would seem that this time the film is set to be an animated feature with the seasoned Illumination Entertainment taking on the project in collaboration with Nintendo.
Sporting a December 21, 2022 release date, the film looks to be in good hands with a star-studded voice cast in Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, and Chris Pratt as video games' most iconic character: Mario. Here's to hoping the film is better than the 1993 disaster that was its predecessor.
2 Possible: Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid Could Be Adapted
Hideo Kojima is undoubtedly one of the greats among video game directors. While he's most recently taken the spotlight with 2020's Death Stranding, Kojima is perhaps best known for his work on Konami's Metal Gear Solid. Sony Pictures has been attempting to adapt the latter franchise into a film for the better part of a decade.
Buzz about the adaptation began to pick up steam when film director John Vogt-Roberts finished the script in 2019. However, the bombshell that Oscar Isaac would be playing the fan-favorite Solid Snake in December 2020 really got talks going about the development of this film, with Vogt-Roberts affirming Isaac's involvement at 2021's virtual E3 event.
1 Possible: Justice Smith Skeptical About Detective Pikachu 2
Detective Pikachu took a big risk in 2019 when Warner Bros. decided to transform one of the world's most popular animated franchises into a live-action film based on a relatively obscure spin-off game. Thankfully, the star power of Ryan Reynolds combined with an adorable CGI Pikachu carried this movie to success.
Detective Pikachu became the second highest-grossing video game movie ever, prompting the demand for a sequel. However, precious little is known, save that Oren Uziel is being tapped to write the script. Unfortunately, actor Justice Smith did little to assuage worries in a March 2021 interview where he voiced his own skepticism about a sequel ever seeing the light of day.
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