“Why Video Game Companies Are Taking More Control Over Their Movies”
The nexus between movies and video games seems like a complete natural, even an easy fit, right? Consider this list:
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
Now check out a recent THR article:
From books to plays to theme park rides, Hollywood has a long history of transforming successful intellectual properties into box-office hits.
But when it comes to video games, the track record is surprisingly dismal. Despite sales figures that have made film executives drool — Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 grossed $1 billion in 15 days in December, and Modern Warfare sold $400 million in a single day in 2011 — only one film based on a video game, 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, has ever crossed the $100 million threshold domestically ($131 million).
Even with the backing of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Disney’s $200 million Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time failed to connect with audiences, taking in only $91 million domestically in 2010. (It fared better overseas.) And the holy grail of modern gaming, Microsoft’s Halo, is languishing in development hell.
So what’s a video game company to do?
After being creatively shut out of the adaptation of Prince of Persia, French game publisher Ubisoft launched its own motion picture division two years ago with a stable of European industry veterans, including CEO Jean-Julien Baronnet, the former head of Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp.
— —
Ubisoft set out to develop its most popular properties and package them with A-list stars before taking them to the studios. To wit, it attached Michael Fassbender to star in and produce Assassin’s Creed — Ubisoft’s top-selling franchise, with 40 million units sold — and signed Tom Hardy to Splinter Cell (26 million units sold) before Galsor struck deals for both properties at Regency, which beat out Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. for the rights. The projects are now seeking directors, with the hope that Assassin’s Creed could be in theaters before the end of the year.
Okay, so sign deals with actors. While acting attachments may make the package more attractive to studios, there’s still this little itty-bitty thing left in the development process:
The story.
So while Tom Hardy’s deal may make the headlines for “Splinter Cell,” perhaps it’s finally more important that Eric Warren Singer has been hired to write the script.
And Michael Fassbender is a big deal re the “Assassin’s Creed” project, but maybe the most important piece of the puzzle is the signing of Michael Lesslie to adapt the video game into a screenplay.
After all, when one of the values of a video game is the opportunity for the player to immerse themselves in the story universe, doesn’t it make sense that in a movie adaptation, the person most responsible for crafting that story universe — the writer — should have a singular place of importance?
What’s your take on why so many video games have not succeeded as movies?
For more of the Hollywood Reporter article, go here.
Comment Archive