More and more games are finding their way to the big screen. Find out which worlds you will soon be able to enjoy not only interactively, but also as a film here.
Hollywood has long recognised the potential of game adaptations and has brought numerous heroes to the big screen in recent years. Whether Silent Hill, Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed or Tomb Raider – not all film adaptations have been successful and some have even turned out to be true licensed cucumbers.
But that doesn’t stop the studios from filming other popular and successful game series. We present the next film adaptations of popular game series in 2022 and beyond. Some already have concrete dates, others are still in the planning stage.
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Upcoming game adaptations with start dates
Super Mario Bros: The Movie
- Movie release date: April 7, 2023
- Directed by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
- Cast: Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Seth Rogen
- Genre: Adventure
No, don’t worry: The above picture is of course not from the upcoming film adaptation about the world-famous plumber and his companions. The new film will be a pure animated flick. For this, however, top-class names are being dragged in front of the microphones, among them Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Jack Black, who is made for such clamour.
Nothing is known about the plot yet, and there is no trailer yet either. However, the film is being made in close cooperation with Nintendo, which is why we can assume that the film will be a lot better than the 1993 copy – which is also where the picture comes from. And that is considered one of the worst films of all time.
Unfortunately, you still have to be patient: Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has addressed the waiting fans via Twitter and announced that the global release of the film has been postponed until spring 2023. To be more precise, it will be released on 7 April 2023 in North America and on 28 April in Japan. It remains to be seen when Mario will also hop across European cinema screens.
This is Miyamoto. After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023-April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America. My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait.
– Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 26, 2022
Planned game adaptations without a fixed date
While concrete start dates have already been set for a few game adaptations, there are still plenty of productions in development or in planning. We have compiled a selection of the most important titles here.
Mortal Kombat 2
- Cinema release date: Not known
- Directed by: Not known
- Cast: Not known
- Genre: Martial Arts Action
The 2021 Mortal Kombat adaptation could go down quite well with many fans of the series as a guilty pleasure, even if the film isn’t exactly considered a masterpiece by objective standards. Nevertheless, many were happy to finally see popular characters like Jax, Scorpion, Mileena and Sub-Zero on the big screen again. After all, there were already two flicks at the end of the 1990s, but they are a lot worse and also have nothing to do with the new adaptation.
Therefore, the news that a sequel is officially in the making should make for many happy faces. Unfortunately, there are neither exact details about the plot nor the cast. A start date has also not been mentioned yet, but we assume that it could be 2023 at the earliest.
Tomb Raider 2
- Cinema release date: Not known
- Directed by: Misha Green
- Cast: Alicia Vikander
- Genre: Adventure
The first Tomb Raider film starring Alicia Vikander was a moderate success, which is why work on a sequel began shortly after its release. But due to a change in the director’s chair and, of course, the pandemic, the project was delayed and the targeted start in 2021 could not be met.
My fav from classic era is Legend & from survival era it’s a tie between Rise & Shadow. So I’m thinking something like:
🔦⛏🗻🗿🧟♂️👊🏻🏺 🦖🔫🔫🏃🏻♀️
*whispers* Who’s as excited as I am for a @TombRaiderMovie!?!? 🤑💃🏾🤩 TombRaider
– Misha Green (@MishaGreen) January 25, 2021
Ghost of Tsushima
- Cinema release date: Unknown
- Directed by Chad Stahelski
- Cast: Unknown
- Genre: Not known
The PlayStation-exclusive samurai adventure Ghost of Tsushima is also to be made into a feature film. Sony Pictures was able to sign Chad Stahelski as director for this, who made a name for himself with the John Wick flicks for fast-paced action sequences. So the chances are good that Jin will also dish it out in his big-screen debut. More is not yet known, however.
Minecraft
- Cinema release date: 2022
- Directed by Peter Scolett
- Cast: Unknown
- Genre: Not known
The well-known and popular block world of Minecraft also wants to conquer the cinemas. Developer Mojang announced a movie adaptation some time ago, but nothing is revealed about the plot yet. It’s hard to imagine an open Minecraft world in a game film adaptation.
On the other hand, one of the main actors is to be announced soon: According to current rumours, none other than Jason Momoa (Aquaman) will star in the film. According to the well-known Hollywood blog Heat Vision, the superhero actor is in final contract negotiations with Warner Bros.
A lot is also said to be happening at Netflix: Because more and more films or series on well-known games are to land directly on the major streaming platform.
More games projects in conception
There are quite a few other games that have already been mentioned in connection with a film or series adaptation. Most of them disappear into oblivion and are either never seen again or only many years later. Therefore, you can now find a short version of some of these projects:
Watch Dogs
Ubisoft is planning a feature film based on the open-world action game Watch Dogs in addition to The Division, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon. For this, the specially founded studio Ubisoft Motion Pictures (UMP) will once again take over the creative patronage.
Not much more is known about the production at this point. There is neither a director nor a producer, nor have the first actors for the main roles been found. However, the CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, Jean-Julien Baronnet, has at least confirmed that they want to tell a new story, away from the well-known games.
It Takes Two
There’s a certain irony in the fact that the indie hit will be made into a movie in 2021, of all places. Why? Well, because the head of Hazelight Studios, Josef Fares, known for his very passionate performances, stormed onto the stage of the Game Awards ceremony in 2017 and – we quote verbatim here – shouted Fuck the Oscars! in multiple versions into Geoff Keighley’s microphone.
So if (Variety) is right and a film adaptation of May and Cody’s charming marital conflict turns out to be true, they should probably have no ambitions to be nominated for the world’s most important film award, let alone take home one of the gold men.
Together with the production company dj2 Entertainment, Seven Bucks Studios (Jumanji) and Amazon, Hazelight is said to be working on the cinematic realisation. Josef Fares has already commented on what he sees as the great potential for a film adaptation:
Creating the world and story of It Takes Two was so much fun for me and the team. Because of the strong plot with all the crazy characters and their cooperation, the potential for a film or TV series is huge.
The first personnel are also being discussed: The source of the rumour is again Variety. According to the rumour, Dwayne The Rock Johnson will not only act as producer, but also play a leading role – in this case probably that of the father Cody.
Pat Casey and Josh Miller, who have already worked in the same capacity on the Sonic films, will work on the script.
Call of Duty
It should come as no surprise that a film adaptation of the world’s most popular shooter franchise has also been under discussion for some time. As early as 2015, there were initial plans on the part of Activision Blizzard, but a realisation never got off the ground.
Eventually, however, there is now news to report from the front, because actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson, known primarily for his action flicks, most recently spoke in an interview with the magazine (Men’s Journal) about his current projects – one of which is supposed to be a badass adaptation of a video game.
He goes into a bit more detail and states that it is one of the greatest games that could be brought to the big screen and that he himself has been playing it for many years. Therefore, many insiders assume that this adaptation could be a Call of Duty film.
Whether there is any truth to the rumour remains to be seen. Even if the rumours are true, it would not be the first time that a planned film adaptation of a game fell through for numerous reasons before filming began.
Gears of War
For quite some time there has been talk of a planned game adaptation based on the popular third-person shooter Gears of War. In the meantime, a suitable film studio has been found in Universal. The screenplay is to be written by xXx-3 author F. Scott Frazier. But not much more is known yet.
But there is one hot rumour: And once again it is about Dwayne The Rock Johnson. In an interview with Men’s Journal magazine, he stated that he was working on bringing one of the biggest, coolest games he had ever played to the big screen. This statement led Filmstarts, among others, to speculate whether this statement could have something to do with the Gears movie.
Half-Life & Portal
Neither production seems to have progressed beyond a first draft of the script. Matthew Armstrong and Marc Laidlaw, who have already worked on the games themselves, were recently discussed as writers for Half-Life, but this has not been confirmed. The template for the Portal film could come from Dan Trachtenberg, who has already made a short film with Portal: No Escape, a short film about the game series.
God of War
God of War’s remake managed to wow both critics and gamers in 2018, and the successful PC port was also exceptionally well received. Since the game also convinced with its outstanding story, it was probably only a matter of time before plans for a film adaptation would arise.
According to a (report from Deadline) Amazon is now said to be in talks with Sony about a conversion of the game as a series for Prime Video. Producers of the successful sci-fi series The Expanse are also said to be on board. So far, however, the rumours have not been officially confirmed.
On page 4 you can find an overview of all game adaptations that have already started in cinemas in 2022.
These game adaptations have started in cinemas in 2022
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
- Cinema release date: April 8, 2022
- Directed by Jeff Fowler
- Cast: James Marsden, Idris Elba, Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz
- Genre: Adventure
The first Sonic movie surprised many moviegoers with its quite decent quality. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before the film studio Paramount launched a sequel. After all, the racing hedgehog’s big-screen adventure has become the most successful video game adaptation of all time.
The plot of the second film roughly outlined: After Sonic has settled in Green Hills, peace does not last long. Because the evil arch-rival Dr. Egg returns in search of the Master Emerald. With him in his luggage: the nasty hedgehog Knuckles. At least Sonic can rely on the help of a new companion – the brave Tails.
Which film adaptations are you looking forward to the most? Is there a game that you would definitely like to see made into a film or series, but nothing has been announced yet? Feel free to write your wishes and ideas in the comments!
