When Video Games Create Cinematic Franchises

When Video Games Create Cinematic Franchises

Video games have always inspired movie and series producers to create cinematic and television features based on the characters one can control using a console, a PC, or a mobile device. In some cases, the movies or series that were based on video games did pretty well, but there are also cases where viewers felt like they deserved a refund after watching something that was far less than satisfactory.

Greek Mythology Is Great for Games but Does not Do Well on the Big Screen

Greek deities have inspired comic books, animations, merchandise, and video games for all kinds of audiences. And, in most cases, they tend to do well. Land-based and online casinos offer Greek mythology-themed slots such as Amazing Link Zeus, and console gaming studios create video games such as God of War, Immortals Fenix Rising, or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. These games become favourites in no time, as players enjoy every minute of gameplay. However, when movie studios try to create a cinematic franchise based on Greek, Egyptian, Nordic, or any other ancient mythology, these projects tend to crash and burn. The two recent remakes of the Clash of the Titans had a collective production cost of around 300 million dollars, but the two movies did not do so well at the box office. One can say the same about movies such as The Mummy or Beowulf.

Other Gaming Products Shared a Similar Fate

Dozens of movies and series based on video games did not manage to excite cinephiles, even though they managed to become classics in the gaming world. Games like BloodRayne and Resident Evil are great examples of gaming successes, with numerous gaming sequels and remakes that turned into cinematic disasters. The same applies to Assassin’s Creed, to Tomb Raider, to Hitman, and even to Super Mario.

Some Projects Have Paid Off

Not every attempt to turn a game into a movie or a series turned into a massive failure. The Witcher is the best example of a story that became popular through its video game, and that turned into a massive success story for the streaming service that decided to invest in it. The Witcher universe is so vast that Netflix has enough content to stretch the story for as long as its viewers show interest in the series and in all its spin-offs.

The Witcher Series Is Just the Beginning

Netflix is capitalising on the momentum of the Witcher series in any way that it can. The upcoming Witcher: Blood Origin is a movie that could easily sell millions of tickets at the box office, but if one wants to watch it, then they will need to become a Netflix subscriber. The monthly fee for the service is significantly higher than the monthly fees of competing streaming services, but the over 220 million Netflix subscribers do not seem to mind the constantly rising fee and features such as Blood Origin may be the reason why.

The Cinematic Franchise of Resident Evil Is Getting Revamped

Taking the average ratings of the previous Resident Evil movies into account, Sony decided that it was time to get things right. The recently released Welcome to Raccoon City does right by the legacy of the Resident Evil gaming franchise. The zombies in the movie are not the scariest if one were to compare them to zombies viewers have watched in other movies, but overall, the quality of the movie is pretty good.