Hollywood’s fascination with the gaming industry is pervasive. One only has to consider the top 10 movies inspired by games to understand just how much of an influence games have on our cultural zeitgeist. Consider the following movies that drew their inspiration from top-tier games:
- Assassins Creed Released on December 21, 2016
Assassins Creed stars Hollywood heavyweights Michael Fassbender, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, and Marion Cotillard. The film garnered a 5.8/10 rating from 150,316 reviewers on IMDb. It had an estimated budget of $125 million and grossed $240,697,856 worldwide. The game takes place in Spain in 1492 with the Knights of the Templar Order are searching for the Apple of Eden. The action fast forwards to the 20th century, and that’s where Hollywood takes over in none other than Texas. Enter Callum Lynch who escapes death by lethal injection and is called upon to destroy the Templar organization. Gripping stuff!
- Warcraft – Released on June 10, 2016
Warcraft: The Beginning was released on 10 June 2016 in the US. Based on the iconic World of Warcraft game, this film garnered a stellar 6.9/10 rating from 208,395 reviewers on IMDb. The movie tracks an Orc horde invasion on the planet Azeroth. The film stars Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, and Toby Kebbell. It had a spectacular budget of $160 million and grossed a worldwide total of $433,677,183. Everyone knows about WOW, and it took long enough for Hollywood to pick up this blistering game and bring it to the big screen.
- Mortal Kombat Annihilation Released on 21 November 1997
Mortal Kombat tells the story of highly skilled martial artists who have less than a week to save the earth from an invasion from outer space. This film followed on the heels of other more successful Mortal Kombat releases and wasn’t a raging success with fans. It stars Talisa Soto, Robin Shou, and James Remar. The film generated a lukewarm response with a 3.7/10 rating from 39,880 reviewers. The estimated budget was $30 million, and the film generated a worldwide gross total of $15,449,455.
- Silent Hill: Revelation Released on 26 October 2012
This movie came out 6 years after the original Silent Hill in 2006. The film adaptation of this game starred several ranking actors in Adelaide Clemens, Radha Mitchell, and Sean Bean. There were some memorable features of this film, notably the choreography and the VFX. The film scored a 5.0/10 rating from 54,449 reviewers on IMDb. With a $20 million budget and $52,302,796 in worldwide takings, it can be considered a moderate success.
- Resident Evil: Apocalypse Released in 10 September 2004
Hollywood didn’t take long to pounce on the universally popular Resident Evil video game. In a world infested with all sorts of ghoulish characters, Alice a.k.a. Milla Jovovich must do battle against monsters and zombies in Raccoon City. It’s only a matter of time before a nuclear attack wipes out the entire enclave, so Alice must make haste. The film had a box office budget of $45 million and it grossed $78,193,382 worldwide.
- Cube Released on 11 July 1998
Cube is an R-rated Hollywood adaptation of a movie inspired by a game. The cube is one of the world’s most fascinating geometric figures. But it’s what happens inside this cube-style game that makes this movie utterly fascinating. This film garnered a rating of 7.3/10 from 180,273 reviewers. It stars David Hewlett, Maurice Dean Wint, and Nicole De Boer. It was followed up in 2002 by Cube: Hypercube. What’s fascinating about this movie is that it was produced on a shoestring budget of just $365,000, and although it failed to generate a widespread release, it has a lasting legacy among game fans. Unlike many of the cube crush games that are currently available today, this film takes place inside a cube and you’re supposed to find your way out. If the cube gets crushed, all the occupants die – it’s fear, paranoia, desperation, and suspicion personified.
- Tomb Raider Released on 16 March 2018
Lara Croft of Tomb Raider fame now finds herself in a daring adventure to save her missing father. The film stars Alicia Vikander, Walton Goggins, and Dominic West. It generated a favourable response from viewers with a 6.8/10 rating from 45,400 fans. The film cost an estimated $94 million, and within weeks of its release had already generated over $263 million worldwide. In 2001, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider was released, and it starred Angelina Jolie and John Voigt. The film cost $115 million and grossed a worldwide take of $274,703,340. This latest release has already outmuscled the original and looks set to rack up impressive gains.
- Doom Released on 21 October 2005
This popular video game/film adaptation scored a 5.2/10 rating from 94,282 reviewers. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike. This is as close to the video game as Hollywood producers could make it, and it was created with an estimated budget of $60 million. Unfortunately, the film was a box office flop with worldwide takings of just $15.8 million.
- Super Mario Brothers Released on 28 May 1993
It seems hard to believe that a game with such universal appeal could be such an abysmal failure at the box office. But that’s precisely what happened with Super Mario Brothers. This story tracks the lives of two plumbers from Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi. They must travel to another dimension to stop an evil dictator from destroying the world. It stars John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and Bob Hoskins. It came with a budget of $42 million and grossed just $20.9 million.
- Max Payne Released on 17 October 2008
Max Payne is an action star in the video game, and he carries that menacing persona into New York City where he is a police detective in the movie. The film starred Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, and Mila Kunis as Mona Sax. It’s similar in certain regards to other video game inspired titles like Hitman, and it does a good job at re-creating the game on the big screen. The film was riddled with script errors, and not even Mark Wahlberg could save it from itself. It cost $35 million to make and grossed $85 million worldwide.
