Commentary: Why film adaptations of popular video games often fall flat

ONTARIO: Video game adaptations are having a moment. On television, shows like HBO’s The Last of Us and Amazon Prime’s Fallout – each based on popular game franchises – have been gigantic hits. On the big screen, 2023’s The Super Mario Bros Movie broke box office records, and at the time of writing, A Minecraft Movie looks to be well on its way to generating US$1 billion in ticket sales.

With these recent successes, it can be hard to remember that movie adaptations of video games have historically been notoriously bad, typically failing to win over audiences and critics alike.

My first experience with adaptation disappointment came from the 1993 adaptation of Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros, starring Hollywood legend Bob Hoskins as Mario and John Leguizamo as his brother, Luigi.

The film was a flop, garnering a 35 on aggregate site Metacritic and failing to break even at the box office. Curiously, the film looked nothing like the games, opting for a gritty, noir aesthetic and swapping out the cutesy enemies with horrifying monsters.

Movie studio executives can perhaps be forgiven for trying to capitalise on the popularity of video games. With billions of players worldwide and a market valuation surpassing Hollywood and the music industry combined, video games are seemingly low-hanging fruit for commercial success.

So why, with a few notable exceptions notwithstanding, are video game adaptations so difficult to pull off?

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