Hollywood’s Power Players: Why 2023 Will Be the Year of Video Game Adaptations
It seems impossible, but one day Hollywood is going to run out of Marvel and DC IP to mine for box office gold. Luckily, there’s an entire world of untapped source material waiting in the wings with a built-in fan base numbering in the billions. Granted, video game adaptations don’t exactly have the best track record. From famous flops like 1993’s live-action Super Mario Bros. to the steady stream of direct-to-DVD quality schlock from the likes of Paul W.S. Anderson, it’s fair to be skeptical about the game industry’s ability to break through to Tinseltown on an Avengers-level scale.
But with a string of solid theatrical hits including 2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu and 2022’s Uncharted, and especially with the kid-friendly speedster Sonic the Hedgehog series already ramping up for its third installment, it seems like we may be on the cusp of Hollywood’s next big thing. Streaming platforms, too, see the potential ahead with Netflix already having released a slate of animated adaptations like Castlevania, The Cuphead Show, Arcane and more, with its competitors not far behind. The gaming IP arms race is just beginning to heat up, and 2023 is primed to be the year it makes contact. Here are some of this year’s contenders for Hollywood’s new power players.
This story is part of Gaming Levels Up, a special section that celebrates the proliferation of video games throughout our entire culture. A version also appears in the Jan. 2023 issue of the magazine.
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‘The Last of Us’
STAR POWER Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nick Offerman
HYPE LEVEL ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
LORE Heralded as a breakthrough in cinematic storytelling in games, The Last of Us has long been the pinnacle for gamers hoping to see a truly great adaptation in the mainstream. Now that it’s finally out, all signs point to it being just that. Written and produced by Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin — with involvement from game co-creator and steward Neil Druckmann — gamers and non-gamers alike are already enamored by HBO’s next big hit. Set 20 years after a deadly fungal outbreak devastates humanity, the series stars everyone’s favorite Mandalorian, Pedro Pascal, as grizzled smuggler Joel alongside Bella Ramsey as his smartmouthed cargo/traveling companion, Ellie. Equal parts Cormac McCarthy and The Walking Dead, The Last of Us is off to a massive start as the network’s second-highest new series debut in a decade. Assuming that it can maintain momentum with critics and viewers, it just may the prestige TV prototype for gaming moving forward.
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‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’
STAR POWER Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key
HYPE LEVEL ❤️❤️❤️❤️
LORE For a character as globally famous as Mickey Mouse, Super Mario has had a rough start in the entertainment biz. From wrestler Lou Albano’s campy take on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! cartoon to 1993’s campy theatrical release Super Mario Bros. — which would become the poster child for bad game adaptations — Nintendo’s mascot is in desperate need of a win. Now in partnership with Universal and Minions studio Illumination, the next attempt at adapting gaming’s premiere franchise may just have what it takes to be a triple jump ahead of its Goomba-stomping predecessors. Starring Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as the titular plumber brothers opposite a scenery chewing (and fire spewing) Jack Black as Bowser, The Super Mario Bros. Movie might just be the slickly animated box office high score that Nintendo needs to greenlight more adaptations from its stable (looking at you, Zelda).
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‘Fallout’
STAR POWER Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Kyle MacLachlan
HYPE LEVEL ❤️❤️❤️❤️
LORE Known for its cultish following with hardcore gamers and Western-RPG fans, Fallout’s satirical take on a retro-futuristic apocalypse should be fertile ground for this Amazon Prime series adaptation. Led by Westworld creators Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, whose science fiction chops are well known, the exact plot synopsis isn’t yet known but will likely follow one or more Vault-dwellers, emerging into the new frontier of an irradiated nuclear wasteland. With multiple entries to pull from — but most likely to be inspired heavily by Bethesda’s Fallout 3 — viewers can expect to see ghouls, mutants, cyborgs, and more all wrapped in consumerism-skewing faux 1950s aesthetic. With oddball talent like Walton Goggins and Kyle MacLachlan on board, there’s hope that the franchise’s gonzo humor shines through.
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‘Borderlands’
STAR POWER Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis, Édgar Ramirez
HYPE LEVEL ❤️❤️
LORE One of the biggest wildcards on this list, Lionsgate’s Borderlands has a lot going both for and against it. Based on the cartoonishly stylized multiplayer looter-shooter from Gearbox Software, the movie boasts some major star power with Kevin Hart as the mercenary Roland, Cate Blanchett as outlaw Lilith, Arianna Greenblatt as fan favorite Tiny Tina, and of course, Jack Black as the exposition dump-bot Claptrap. Co-written by Craig Mazin (of The Last of Us fame) and director Eli Roth, the movie appears to be leaning heavily into the game’s cel-shaded aesthetic from early promotional images, but few have seen how it plays in action. Much will depend on how horror-auteur Roth manages to handle the manic, juvenile humor of the series and make it work for a wide audience, but there’s reports that he may have some help as Deadpool director, Tim Miller, may be stepping in to assist with reshoots.
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‘Twisted Metal’
STAR POWER Anthony Mackie, Neve Campbell, Thomas Haden Church, Will Arnett
HYPE LEVEL ❤️❤️❤️
LORE A boldly left-field choice from Peacock, this half-hour action-comedy from Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick has fans hoping the show can revive interest in one of gaming’s most tragically latent properties. The franchise, which hasn’t seen a new installment since 2012, was one of the first big hits on the original PlayStation and helped cement the console as a platform for adults with its edgy humor and vehicular mayhem at the forefront. The TV version stars Anthony Mackie as John Doe, a driver tasked with delivering a package across an apocalyptic wasteland. (Sensing a theme here?) Rounding out the colorful characters are Stephanie Beatriz as Quiet, Thomas Haden Church as Agent Stone, Neve Campbell as Raven, and the brilliantly cast Will Arnett as the gravelly voice of flame-headed serial killer clown, Sweet Tooth. If the show can translate the pitch black comedy of the games in a weekly format, it might just make its mark.
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Gran Turismo
STAR POWER Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou
HYPE LEVEL ❤️❤️❤️
LORE Rounding out the list is one of the odder choices in the adaptation wave — a sports racing game that literally has no plot or characters despite seven entries across multiple console generations. In a meta twist, the events of Sony and PlayStation Studios’ racing flick blend player fantasy and real-life events. Rather than the game itself, it’s based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a young Gran Turismo player who made the game his reality by actually becoming a professional racing driver. Directed by District 9 visionary Neil Blomkamp, the coming-of-age drama stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough and David Harbour as his trainer. Early behind-the-scenes looks have shown some pulse pounding camera work done to recreate the feeling of the game, but audiences will have to wait until the summer to see if the gaming thrills can be faithfully translated to the screen.