This was submitted to us by Social Monster. It is a good read.
For years, Hollywood stayed far away from attempting to translate video games to the silver screen, but things have changed. One recent successful adaptation, 2010's “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time,” grossed more than 330 million dollars worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. With more experienced and adventurous directors choosing to adapt video games for film, we're most excited for these upcoming projects:
'Assassin's Creed'
Photo by JBLivin via Flickr
“Assassin's Creed” is one of the most interesting properties to be slated for a film debut. A project of Ubisoft's relatively new Ubisoft Motion Pictures division, The “Assassin's Creed” rights were originally purchased by Sony. However, Ubisoft set forth so many stern conditions—including final script approval and control over casting decisions—that Sony balked, and Ubisoft chose to begin production internally.
This is a good thing; in the past, Hollywood has taken advantage of some amazing film licenses to churn out terrible films that have little to do with their original property (see “Super Mario Bros”). It's good to see game studio bigwigs put their foot down and produce the movie themselves.
Ubisoft is known for its cinematic games, which include “Splinter Cell,” “ and “Watch Dogs.” Adapting one of these franchises seems like a no-brainer—the “Assassin's Creed” franchise has plenty of interesting characters, all of whom run around beautiful historical locations killing bad guys with finesse, brutality and unique weapons in the name of freedom. The “Assassin's Creed” franchise doesn't just deserve a film: it deserves a trilogy.
The “Assassin's Creed” franchise is beloved by fans and successful; Polygon reports that “Assassin's Creed 3” sold more than 3.5 million copies it's debut week, more than double “Assassin's Creed 2.” The film is currently set to be released June of 2015.
'Resident Evil 6'
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“Resident Evil” is the highest-grossing film series of video game adaptations of all time. According to The-Numbers.com, the franchise has grossed more than 900 million dollars worldwide, with an average worldwide gross of more than 130 million dollars per film. Currently, chapter 6 in the “Resident Evil” saga is set for a September 2014 release date, and will continue to feature Milla Jovovich as Alice, though rumor has it that this may be the final film in the franchise.
Though the "Resident Evil" film franchise has deviated drastically from its video game franchise's canonical roots, the series shows what a smart director can do with a film based on a video game. By capturing the spirit of the once-primitive supernatural survival/horror games and transforming it into a special effects-driven action spectacular, the films claim a place of their own in “Resident Evil” fandom and have swept the globe.
'Warcraft'
Photo by Dylerpillar via Flickr
Announced in 2006, there's been (mostly) silence concerning a film based on the world's most popular MMORPG. Initially set to be released in 2009, the film was pushed back to 2011, and “Spiderman” director Sam Raimi eventually backed out of the production. As of January of 2013, however, the project has picked up a new director in Duncan Jones, capturing the interest of film geeks as well as the Horde and Alliance. If it seems too good to be true, Cinema Blend reports that the film was officially confirmed at this past year's Sand Diego Comic-Con with the reveal of a film teaser featuring a human and orc squaring off. Rumors suggest the film will be based on the novel “Warcraft: The Last Guardian,” and that the studio is planning for a 2015 release. For the Horde!
