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a new installment Fallout, a long-running video game series, was recently released to critical acclaim. Critics have called this post-apocalyptic adventure a “rare gem” and “an absolute masterpiece.” The new Fallout looks and feels very similar to previous releases. The difference is that the latest installment is not a game, but a TV series.
Converting pixelated adventures into live-action stories has long defeated Hollywood screenwriters, resulting in films like “Street Fighter” (1994) and “Doom” (2005). was born. The developer of a famous game has confessed that the silver screen version of it nearly a decade ago was the worst movie he had ever seen.
But now the studio has reworked the game and it has achieved commercial and critical success. Last year, “Super Mario Bros.'' became the second-highest grossing movie at the worldwide box office. “The Last of Us” tv set The show, which is based on a PlayStation game, won a ton of Emmy Awards in January. More game adaptations are in the works. IGNis an entertainment website with over 70 games in development for movies and films. tv set, There are shows based on “Tomb Raider'' and “League of Legends,'' and movies based on “Zelda'' and “Minecraft.''
What explains the craze for these game shows? One reason is that Hollywood's favorite source of creative material, comics, is becoming boring. For 20 years, the box office has been dominated by superheroes. But these days, it seems like every Marvel movie isn't as successful or acclaimed as its predecessor. “The Marvels,” released in November, became the lowest-grossing movie ever. Games offer an alternative. “A deep well of franchising, a built-in audience, a long-running storyline, and the potential for endless spin-off franchises,” says Fred Black of research firm Ampere Analysis.
Pioneers of the new wave of visuals are Amazon Prime Video (which commissioned “Fallout”) and Netflix. These streaming companies are relative newcomers to Hollywood and have been working hard on commissions to attract subscribers. Unlike older rivals such as Disney, which owns Marvel, it has a limited archive of intellectual property. “Most of the comic series were already owned, so we had to find something else,” Black says. That's what the game was about. Success with titles like Castlevania (2017) and The Witcher (2019) caught the attention of Hollywood studios.
Changes in the game world also helped. Thanks to smartphones (small gaming consoles that fit in everyone's pocket) and the Covid-19 pandemic (which has created millions of new gamers out of sheer boredom) The masses surged. Big titles like Minecraft are played by over 100 million people every month, guaranteeing that movie spin-offs have a large potential audience. The expanding and aging population of gamers has made it easier for Hollywood to greenlight video game projects. Previous generations of producers were perplexed by the youth game. Today's greats grew up playing them.
Most importantly, modern games are better material for adaptation than their predecessors. Amazon's Fallout has a sharp script and a strong cast. But its epic post-apocalyptic setting, twisty plot, and rich backstory all come from the game. The PlayStation version of The Last of Us was so cinematic that Warner's opening scene tv set The adaptation remained largely unchanged. Its central characters, Joel and Ellie, were already vividly drawn.of tv set The series borrowed a lot of dialogue from the games.
For all the recent hits, game adaptations are still not as reliable performers as superheroes. Paramount's “Halo” and Netflix's “Resident Evil” failed to meet expectations. According to Black, the biggest hits are either so well known that even non-gamers recognize the brand (think “Mario'', “Sonic'' and “Angry Birds''), or so appealing that They tend to be either so great that their digital origins become unimportant (“The Last of Us” or “Fallout”). The explosive first episode of “Fallout” is titled “The End.” For on-screen gaming, that's just the beginning. ■
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