Sony Is Doubling Down On Video Game Adaptations, Teaming Up Its Gaming And Film Divisions
By Hoai-Tran Bui/May 24, 2021 1:30 pm EST
Per a report from The New York Times, Sony is doubling down on video game adaptations in a big way. The company is teaming up its Sony Pictures Entertainment division and its PlayStation powerhouse, Sony Interactive, to turn PlayStation games into “mass-appeal movies and television shows.” There are about 10 video game adaptations in the Sony Pictures pipeline, a huge leap from a couple years ago, when there were close to zero.
We’re already starting to see the fruits of their labors. The Tom Holland-starring Uncharted, based on the beloved PlayStation property, is set to (finally) hit theaters on February 18, 2022. An HBO series adaptation of The Last of Us is beginning production with The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal to star and Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin set as showrunner. Also slated for the film and TV treatment are Sony games like Twisted Metal and Ghost of Tsushima, both wildly popular games with high-profile names like Will Arnett and Chad Stahelski involved. However the New York Times shuts down speculation that God of War is getting an adaptation any time soon.
Lastly, the video game that started it all is getting another go at the big screen. Nearly 30 years after Super Mario Bros hit theaters, Universal Pictures is bringing the Italian plumber back to theaters with an animated Mario movie headed to theaters next year, in a collaboration with Nintendo and Illumination.
So will one of these many adaptations overcome the “video game curse”? Technically it’s already been broken, with Detective Pikachu becoming the first video game adaptation to earn a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. We’ll have to see whether more will join it.
