For years, Hollywood relied on a steady stream of comic book adaptations to power the box office and draw audiences in.<\/p>\n
But as superheroes have faltered<\/a>, studios are scrambling to figure out what\u2019s next. Is it video games?<\/p>\n That\u2019s the bet several studios \u2014 including the newly re-capitalized Paramount<\/a> \u2014 are making, particularly because games have a built-in fanbase and appeal to younger audiences.<\/p>\n With Paramount and Santa Monica-based video game publisher Activision\u2019s recent deal to adapt \u201cCall of Duty\u201d<\/a> for the big screen, new media mogul David Ellison is looking to capture the zeal of its die-hard fans along with the interest of those who\u2019ve never heard of the first-person-shooter game.<\/p>\n \u201cCall of Duty\u201d joins a long list of video game adaptations, particularly in the last few years, when gaming properties including \u201cThe Last of Us,\u201d \u201cTwisted Metal,\u201d \u201cMinecraft\u201d and \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d have all hit screens.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be just another avenue of source material, the same way comic books were,\u201d said Roy Lee, producer of several video game adaptations, including \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d \u201cUntil Dawn\u201d and the upcoming reboot of \u201cResident Evil.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s going to be considered more viable than it has been in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Recently, film adaptations of video games have proved to be big business.<\/p>\n The top-grossing adaptation ever is 2023\u2019s \u201cThe Super Mario Bros. Movie\u201d from Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo, which garnered more than $1.3 billion in global box office revenue, followed by this spring\u2019s surprise hit \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d<\/a> which hauled in almost $958 million worldwide. In third place is 2024\u2019s \u201cSonic the Hedgehog 3,\u201d from Paramount Pictures, which raked in $492 million, according to data from industry newsletter FranchiseRe.<\/p>\n One connecting thread among these three films is that they did well with families, a key audience for studios and theater owners.<\/p>\n \u201cAn enormous advantage is that these do have broad appeal,\u201d said David A. Gross, who writes the FranchiseRe newsletter. \u201cThe real strength is this combination of virtual reality, some live action and animation. When it\u2019s done well, it stretches the imagination and tickles the funny bone.\u201d<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just family films that break through. The 2023 cult horror hit \u201cFive Nights at Freddy\u2019s\u201d scored with Gen Z, bringing in $291 million. <\/p>\n Tapping into the video game industry is not a new phenomenon \u2014 after all, the first, though widely panned, film adaptation of the Nintendo game \u201cSuper Mario Bros.\u201d was released in 1993.<\/p>\n For years, video game adaptations were viewed almost as a running joke in Hollywood.<\/p>\n The films were roundly criticized. Gamers found they bore little resemblance to the original titles, while unfamiliar audiences rejected them. Video games ended up falling into the same category as toys and board games, all seen as properties that weren\u2019t serious propositions for the screen.<\/p>\n Now, that\u2019s all changed. In an era when the decades-old Barbie doll is a billion-dollar box office hit and shows like HBO\u2019s \u201cThe Last of Us,\u201d based on the Naughty Dog game, and Amazon MGM Studios\u2019 \u201cFallout,\u201d based on the Bethesda game franchise, are critically acclaimed, studios see all of these as intellectual property worth mining.<\/p>\n The kids who grew up playing games like \u201cThe Last of Us\u201d and \u201cResident Evil\u201d are now the ones helming these adaptations and translating their enthusiasm for those titles to the screen, filmmakers and production executives say.<\/p>\n Ellison noted his love of the \u201cCall of Duty\u201d franchise in Paramount\u2019s announcement of the Microsoft-owned Activision deal, calling the chance to adapt it \u201ca dream come true\u201d in a statement.<\/p>\n The Activision deal continues Ellison\u2019s deal-making spree since he took over ownership of the legacy studio. The company, which is in dire need of more film franchises, has inked deals for lucrative UFC media rights<\/a> and \u201cSouth Park\u201d<\/a> and lured away \u201cStranger Things\u201d creators Matt and Ross Duffer from Netflix.<\/p>\n On Thursday, Paramount also announced a multi-year global distribution deal with Legendary Entertainment, the first film of which will be an adaptation of the classic arcade game \u201cStreet Fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n Finding the right filmmaker who respects and understands a franchise is key for PlayStation Productions.<\/p>\n The small production team, which works on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, focuses on developing and producing film and TV projects based on Sony games, including 2022\u2019s \u201cUncharted\u201d and 2023\u2019s \u201cGran Turismo.\u201d Up next is a series adaptation of the popular \u201cGod of War\u201d franchise, which was a top priority for PlayStation Productions and will be distributed by Amazon.<\/p>\n The keys to a successful adaptation that appeals to both fans and broader audiences is \u201crespecting the medium and then using the source material as a guide versus a rule book,\u201d said Asad Qizilbash, head of PlayStation Productions.<\/p>\n \u201cVideo games are so much more prevalent in common pop culture now,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat that does is it helps to de-risk film and TV projects for a lot of studios.\u201d<\/p>\n