6 Upcoming Video Game Movie and TV Adaptations We Can’t Wait To See

It may come as a shock, but there was once a time when video games were considered unadaptable as hit movies. Constrained plots, nonsense celebrity casting, and cheesy dialogue were the norm for theatrical adaptations of massive, blockbuster titles, and they struggled to make their money back at the box office.

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In 1993, the Super Mario Bros. movie set a precedent for future releases. Very loosely based on the Super Mario franchise, it starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi, respectively. The duo traveled to a dystopian cityscape in another dimension to help their friend, Daisy, who’d been kidnapped by its denizens and the evil King Koopa, played by Dennis Hopper. 

Siskel & Ebert(Opens in a new window) tore into the movie, criticizing it for a lack of compelling characters, a horrible story, and a severe misunderstanding of its target audience. They went so far as to say it was a complete waste of money. These same criticisms plagued other video game movies, such as 2005’s Alone in the Dark, a movie with so many flaws that it holds a solid 1% on Rotten Tomatoes(Opens in a new window).

However, we’re now experiencing a video game adaptation renaissance. Arcane was based off the extremely popular League of Legends multiplayer game, and was nominated for two Emmy awards earlier this year. Sonic the Hedgehog was nominated for Family Movie of 2020 at the People’s Choice Awards. And Nintendo, despite being burned by the first Super Mario Bros. theatrical release, is once again(Opens in a new window) bringing the red-hatted plumber back to the silver screen. 

Many of Hollywood’s biggest studios are looking to jump on the video-game crossover bandwagon—so many that it’s hard to keep track. We’re here to let you know what to look out for and give you a little context on what’s to come.

Borderlands

Gearbox Software is bringing the Borderlands franchise to the silver screen. The movie wrapped filming in 2021, but aside from character silhouettes and limited behind-the-scenes footage, few other details have emerged. The Borderlands franchise has always been known for its bombastic, almost intentionally rude presentation. The series follows the exploits of “Vault Hunters” who travel to the fictional planet Pandora to score wealth, fame, power, or good ol’ chaos. The movie version, set for a 2022 release, has some major names attached to it (Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart), and will be directed by Eli Roth.

Comix Zone

Sega, empowered by the success of its last two Sonic movies, is adapting(Opens in a new window) its cult classic side-scroller, Comix Zone. The title will be called Zone, and focus on a jaded comic book writer who gets sucked into the world of his final issue. The protagonist will have abilities based off their meta knowledge of being in a comic book. The movie will be written by Mae Catt, who worked on the Emmy-winning series Young Justice, an animated series based on the comic book of the same name. There’s no set release date yet.

Ghost of Tsushima

Following the success of Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima in 2020, Sony Pictures kicked off a film adaptation last year. The film recently scored Takashi Doscher as its writer and Chad Stahelski from John Wick will direct. The film will follow the trials and tribulations of Jin Sakai as he rids the island of Tsushima from invading Mongol armies. Stahelski recently revealed to Collider(Opens in a new window) that the movie will be filmed entirely in Japanese, and feature an all-Japanese cast. A release date haven’t been announced.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

Guerilla Games’ post-apocalyptic action-RPG, Horizon: Zero Dawn, is coming to Netflix. In the video game, you salvage components from animal-like machines that roam the land to create the tools you need to survive and uncover what brought the world to its knees. The TV series focuses on Aloy, an outcast of her tribe who does her best to survive in the 31st century after a worldwide catastrophe destroys a thriving civilization. Netflix has secured Steve Blackman (The Umbrella Academy) as showrunner(Opens in a new window), but the cast and a release date hasn’t been announced.

Space Channel 5

Space Channel 5, another cult-classic Sega title, was a rhythm game released in 1999 for the Sega Dreamcast in which you played a reporter who fights off alien invaders using the power of music. The movie sees a reporter from the future pluck a fast food worker from the past to help stop an alien invasion. The film will be written by(Opens in a new window) Barry Battles (The Baytown Outlaws) and Nir Paniry (Extracted); we don’t have a release date yet.

The Last of Us

When The Last of Us dropped in 2013, PlayStation 3 fans were immediately drawn to heartfelt cast performances and the cinematic world developed by Naughty Dog. Following re-releases and a sequel, the post apocalyptic zombie shooter is getting another chance to wow audiences when it drops as a full-length HBO series. Set to release in 2023, the show will follow(Opens in a new window) Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they travel across a dilapidated United States in order to stop the zombie outbreak.

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