Video game movies are always hit and miss. The first Resident Evil did pretty well, but movies like Postal didn’t really do it for audiences. I personally loved Super Mario Brothers, Double Dragon, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat as a kid — I don’t think I’d watch them now though. Based on this list of upcoming movies, Watch Dogs is getting a movie and it isn’t even out yet! So here are nine games I’d like to see as movies.
9. Kingdom Hearts
I think it’d be best if KH stayed animated, but a full length movie would be fun. And not a rehash of the games, but a new story. Perhaps more Disney movies (The Princess and the Frog jumps to mind) could be incorporated.
8. Darksiders
It probably wouldn’t be a blockbuster, but it would be a lot of fun, just like the game. The movie would be pretty gory, what with all the demons and blood. However, the plot seems to be fair and could even iron out some things.
7. The Elder Scrolls Series
I love Skyrim and the lore behind the world, so seeing it brought to life in a movie would be fantastic. I haven’t had a chance to play the earlier games, but I’m assuming they have sprawling side quests. If the series were made into movies, they’d have to cut down on the side quests, but perhaps they could leave some nods to them in the movies.
6. Fallout Series
Fallout would suffer from the same issues as an Elder Scrolls movie: there are too many quests and sub-plots to make a decent movie out of. However, the main plot is solid and I think would make a decent film.
5. Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2
Making an MMO into a movie seems like a daunting challenge, but both Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 have solid plotlines, which is half the battle. The other half would be the right casting and effects. To be fair, I can’t imagine a person in a Rytlock Brimstone costume, but mixing CGI and real actors might could work.
4. Dragon Age Series
The Dragon Age series is really very good, even if the second was much more linear than the first. Once again, a solid overall plot from both games could give way to a good plot for movies. I’d love to see Kirkwall and Fereldan in person, as it were, as the games had some great background scenery.
3. Mass Effect Series
Like the other games mentioned, overall Mass Effect has a good plot and the issues with making it into a movie series would be casting, narrowing down side quests, and the overall look. This could even be the chance to make the ending of ME3 into something not completely soul-crushing.
2. Assassin’s Creed Series
This one and my number one are sort of cheats, as they are already in pre-production (more like pre-pre-production). Michael Fassbender is set to produce and star in the film, probably as Desmond. My only issue is that I hope he doesn’t play Altaïr as well, who is supposed to be Arabic. I hope it does well so that AC3 and AC4 get made into movies since I adore Connor and pirates are awesome.
1. World of Warcraft
According to Wikipedia, the WoW movie is going to be called Warcraft. It was supposed to be based on Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, but now might be based on the MMO. I’m not sure how that would work since each expansion has its own plot, with the first one seeming to be “Ragnaros is a jerk”. As a fan of the MMO, I don’t think I’d want an Arthas/Lich King movie out of the gate, maybe the second or third, depending on how well the movie does at the box office. On the wiki page, found here, there is a cast list including Garona, Medivh, and Gul’dan. Hopefully the movie will involve Karazhan!
And that’s the list! A lot of these probably will never get made, as they have too many things to do in the games or just too many obstacles to overcome. I’m looking forward to the WoW movie as Blizzard never half-asses anything, especially something that has made them so well known. I’m unsure of the AC movie, as it could be bad, as could some of the video game movies slated to come out in upcoming years. Hopefully they aren’t anything like Doom or Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
