Despite a complicated adaptation process, a potential disconnect with fans of the source material, and some very disappointing numbers at the box office, Hollywood still has a thing for making video games into movies. Though the highest critically-rated video game movies, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and The Angry Birds Movie, sit at just 44% on Rotten Tomatoes, the potential of a built-in audience that can propel you to $100 million heights remains too alluring to pass up.
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There are currently tons of video game movies stuck in development hell, having been the product of a red-hot development deal that never got past the scripting stage (or even the “we’re making a movie!” stage). We’ve decided to forgo including those as the rights have probably lapsed back in the time they’ve been stuck developing and they’re not even in the works anymore. What you’ll find below are video game movies that at least have had traction within the past year or two, or ones that you’ll find playing in theaters within the next eight months.
Which video game movies are you looking forward to the most and which ones would you like to eventually see show up in theaters? Sound off in the comments below!
Video Game Movies in development
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Tomb Raider
The long-awaited reboot of Tomb Raider is closer than you think, with Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander in the title role and following in the foot steps of the 2013 reboot of the video game series. Roar Uthaug directs the film, which is slated for a March 16, 2018 release date.
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Rampage
Now in production, the upcoming Rampage will star Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Åkerman, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The upcoming film will take a slight diversion from the video game, and will feature a gorilla, wolf, and lizard turning into larger, monstrous versions of themselves, not humans turning into monsters. It's set to debut April 20, 2018.
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Minecraft
The success of The LEGO Movie, and the all-around popularity of the property, has lead to the development of the Minecraft movie. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Rob McElhenney is slated to direct, with Steve Carrell being eyed to headline the film. It's set to debut in theaters on May 24, 2019.
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The Angry Birds Movie 2
A sequel to the mobile game-based birds vs pigs movie is already on the way and is set to arrive September 20, 2019.
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Detective Pikachu
Rob Letterman of Goosebumps is directing the first live-action Pokemon movie, which hails from Legendary Entertainment.
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Uncharted
The long-in-development Uncharted movie recently got an interesting diversion as Spider-Man: Homecoming star Tom Holland is set to play the young Nathan Drake in a film that acts as a prequel to the games. Shawn Levy of Stranger Things will direct the feature.
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
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Sonic the Hedgehog
Deadpool director Tim Miller is producing the live-action/CGI hybrid film, which has his Blur Studios partner Jeff Fowler attached to direct.
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Mortal Kombat
Despite two poorly received feature films already, another live-action version of the fighting game is in development. Simon McQuoid will direct the film, which has James Wan of Furious 7 and The Conjuring attached to produce.
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Five Nights at Freddy's
A feature adaptation of the popular jump scare-focused game has been in development for a few years with Gil Kenan previously attached to direct. Now, Blumhouse (Get Out, The Purge) are set to bring the animatronics to life.
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Monster Hunter
Following his conclusion of the Resident Evil series, filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson is setting his sights on another franchise with Monster Hunter. The film is already in development and appears to be taking some major changes from the video games, not unlike Resident Evil.
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Resident Evil
Following the conclusion of the Resident Evil series, the producers of the series set their sights on not letting go of the film rights to the popular video game and have decided to reboot it. Whether it will adhere closer to the source material or not remains to be seen.
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Sleeping Dogs
Donnie Yen of Rogue One and Ip Man will play the hero cop of the Square Enix adaptation, going undercover to take down a criminal organization in Hong Kong. No director or release date are attached.
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Gears of War
Shane Salerno of Avatar and Savages is writing the film for Universal Pictures which won't be an adaptation but another story within the continuity of the game universe.
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The Last of Us
Though stuck in development hell, the adaptation previously had the game's director Neil Druckmann penning the screenplay, with Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams set to play Ellie. Sam Raimi was attached as a producer but seems to think it won't be moving forward soon.
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Call of Duty
Not only are there plans for Call of Duty, but an entire cinematic universe is on the way for the war series, including the Modern Warfare and Black Ops games set up as feature films and the World War II and Vietnam eras as television shows.
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Rabbids
A hybrid live-action stop-motion feature has been in development based on the game with Robot Chicken writers Matthew Senreich, Tom Sheppard, and Zeb Wells penning the script. No updates have come in a few years though.
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Portal/Half Life
It was back in 2013 that Valve and J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot were teaming up to do something with the developer's premiere titles Portal and Half Life. No updates have come in some time, but Abrams revealed last year that he hopes to have a public update on Portal “soon.”
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Shinobi
Bridge of Spies producer Marc Platt has set up an adaptation of the ninja game, hoping to “make a film that honors the essence of the games.”
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The Division
Stephen Gaghan of Syriana is set to direct the feature adaptation of the open world shooter, which has Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain set to star.
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Splinter Cell
Tom Hardy has been attached to this feature film for many years now with Doug Liman previously attached to direct. It's currently unknown if anything will happen with the movie.
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Metal Gear Solid
Kong: Skull Island filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts is attached to direct the film, which is being written now with Jay Basu and with the help of series creator Hideo Kojima.
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Just Cause
Aquaman himself Jason Momoa will play Rico Rodriguez from Just Cause 3 in the film, which actually has Rampage director Brad Peyton attached to direct.
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Firewatch
Little is known about the adaptation of this “Walking simulator,” but a feature film is being planned by production company Good Universe.
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Centipede & Missile Command
Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films have partnered with Atari to bring these two classic arcade games to the big screen. How they will remains to be seen.
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Tetris
Producer Larry Kasanoff, who previously made the Mortal Kombat film, is attached to bring the Tetris game to life, but he's not stopping there and is hoping to squeeze a trilogy out of those tiny, shaped blocks.
