Until recently, most video game-based films or TV shows were so poorly received that even avid gamers like myself experienced a fit of the eye-rolls at the mention of any new adaptations. Please, not again.
There were some exceptions. Some of the films are genuinely enjoyable - the bonkers 1993 Super Mario Bros, which lead actor Bob Hoskins described as a “nightmare”, springs to mind – while others, like Paul W.S. Anderson’s totally illogical but thoroughly entertaining Resident Evil films, are so bad that they’re good, the stuff that great drinking games or first dates are made of.
And many films have become great games - various Star Wars titles, for example, and the iconic Goldeneye, – which grossed $250 million worldwide, competing with Hollywood blockbusters. However, this successful formula didn’t work in reverse.
The first whiff of change came, at last, in 2019, with Detective Pikachu, a Ryan Reynolds-led twist on the Pokémon franchise that earned the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any game film. The following year saw Sonic the Hedgehog, a Jim Carrey-led caper hailed as both fun and faithful by those for whom Sonic is canon.
Video game movies were getting good, but they were still quite silly. Then, in January this year, came The Last of Us, a thrilling, dark, post-apocalyptic drama starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey that was widely regarded as containing the best single-episode of television in recent years (episode three), was nominated for 24 Emmys, and has already been confirmed for a second season.
Then there’s Werewolves Within, the 2021 comedy horror born out of a quirky social deduction game of the same name, and 2018’s Tomb Raider, where Alicia Vikander managed to repair some of the damage done by the 2001 Angelina Jolie flop.
Video game adaptations are certainly on a winning streak right now. They are building back their reputation, but it’s a delicate one, the kind that could easily be destroyed by, say, a blockbuster movie based on the Fortnite franchise.
Fortnite, developed by Epic Games, is one of the most played games on the planet, with millions of dedicated fans around the world. Recently it was reported that Louis Leterrier, director of Fast X, wants to bring Fortnite to the big screen. I appeal to all Hollywood creatives who love video games: for the love of God, don’t let this happen.
To adapt a video game well, you need good source material. The Last of Us had won gaming industry awards for writing long before the dashing Pascal arrived. 2022’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a critically acclaimed web series, was based on the 2020 gameCyberpunk 2077,which was nominated for a BAFTA.
By contrast, when it first launched in 2017, Fortnite, in which players compete in a shootout to the death on a remote island, had no storyline at all. A year later it introduced a plot, which is revealed to players in ‘seasons’, starting with a meteor strike and an evil genius operating out of a lair, which is a pretty all-out start. And then there’s the core premise, a fight to the death so that they can be the ones who survive a deadly storm engulfing the island – every single round – drawing inspiration from both the Hunger Games and Japanese thriller Battle Royale.
In fairness, Fortnite does employ a novel storytelling technique, where the player’s surroundings change over time along with the developing storyline. But I don’t think it’s controversial to say that a meandering, improvised ultra-violent storyline derived from a loose mishmash of Hollywood blockbusters doesn’t scream ‘Oscar contender’.
The game has achieved some remarkable, innovative things, from live events that meshed with the storyline, to an in-game Ariana Grande concert where the crowd can’t spill their drinks on you. I’m sure this was thrilling to be a part of as you tore around the bloodbath of the Fortnite world, but there is absolutely no reason to shovel it into a 90-minute film.
It would take a near-miracle to pull off anything other than another cheap cash-in to be tossed into the fiery pits of Rotten Tomatoes’ scorn, along with the likes of Warcraft, Doom, and the Street Fighter movies.
Epic Games chief Dan Mustard has talked about the possibility of a film adaptation himself, back in April, saying that that it wasn’t something they were “actively working on”, but also that he knew “exactly how” he would do it. I am not reassured.
I’m sure Letterier would be as good a choice of director as any, but to be perfectly honest I wouldn’t even want Martin Scorsese to attempt a big screen adaptation of this game. Regardless, I have no doubt that the result would be a commercial success of epic proportions, embarrassing countless hard-hitting dramas and art house films in adjacent cinema screens.
But that success would take a sledgehammer to the cultural value accrued through wonderful artworks like The Last of Us. Video game adaptations are just starting to get good – please, don’t rush them back into the abyss.
