One of the trends that has been catching up recently with all the companies these days is turning their tentpole games into big screens cinematic extravaganzas. This year 6 animated movies will hit screens which have been adapted from games.
Angry Birds Movie
First up is the ever so popular game franchise Angry Birds from Rovio’s stable. Angry Birds Movie, The story of Red, a bird who is dealing with anger management issues and undergoes rehabilitation treatment. With the entry of Green Pigs, the birds now have to investigate about their evil plans and what are they up to in their village. The movie stars Jason Sudeikis as Red, Josh Gad as Chuck, Danny McBride as Bomb, Maya Rudolph as Matlida, a new bird which is going to be introduced in to the franchise with Peter Dinklage as the Mighty Eagle and Bill Hader who will voice Leonard, the head of Pigs. With a lot at stake for developer Rovio with this movie, the box office has to start ringing from the word go.
The movie hits screens on 20 May 2016 and by the looks of the trailer the movie will be one hell of a ride for the birds and the audience.
Ratchet and Clank
One of the big ones for the video game loyalist, Ratchet and Clank is the video game which is coming to big screens and the fans of the video game are eagerly awaiting this one.
Produced by Rainmaker Entertainment, the 3D animated film is being directed by Jericca Cleland and Kevin Munroe. Written by former Insomniac Games senior writer T.J. Fixman, this is an origin story, and takes back the characters to the story where Ratchet met Clank and their journey to save the Solana Galaxy from being destroyed by Chairman Drek and the Blarg begins.
Series creators Insomniac Games helped with the film’s production, screenplay, character development, and animation. The movie hits theatres on 29 April 2016.
Dragon Nest: Throne of Elves
The sequel to the first movie Dragon Nest: Warriors’ Dawn, it follows the journey of Princess Nerwin who has been coronated as the queen of the elves after defeating the Black Dragon. But with the turn of the events in the kingdom, the dark elf Elena has kidnapped Nerwin and forced her to hand over the almighty gem.
Dragon Nest is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by Eyedentity and has mass following in the Chinese market. Released in 2014, the first movie garnered 57.402 million yen at the Chinese box office which prompted the sequel.
King of Prism
The arcade game by the name Pretty Prism will have a theatrical release with the name King of Prism and was set to release across Japan theatres on 9 January 2016. The film will take place one and a half years after the end of the TV anime series, and it will center on the boys unit Over the Rainbow.
The film will star Tetsuya Kakihara as K?ji Mihama, Tomoaki Maeno as Hiro Hayami, Toshiki Masuda as Kazuki Nishina and Shinichiro Miki as Jin Norizuki.
Pretty Prism has stories which centre around aspiring idols who compete in Prism Shows, an event that combines skating, dancing, singing, and fashion. Till date the franchise has four TV anime series, three anime films, an arcade game and a spinoff to its name.
Sly Cooper
One more gaming title being produced by Rainmaker Entertainment, Sly Cooper has been in works since 2014 with a release date as per its Wikipedia pages on 22 January 2016. With no news or updates about the movie either from the producer or Sony Computer Entertainment, its series developer, the movie is likely to be pushed until next year.
Based on the 2002 PS2 platformer, Sly Cooper, a game where one robs from legit criminals as opposed to innocent bystanders, thus making them vigilantes was a rage among the gamers due to its stealth game mechanics. The movie will be based on the franchise title Thievius Raccoonus and will follow Sly and his friends Bentley and Murray.
The first trailer for the movie was released in January 2014.
The trend of making games in movies is not new. Games like Prince of Persia, Mario, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter have all seen a theatrical release. Last year, Pixels a film which was centered around retro video game characters had an A-list star cast of Adam Sandler, Kevin James Michelle Monaghan and Peter Dinklage. The movie was panned by the critics and the audience for its adolescent jokes which were not appealing to the universal audience. With almost five releases lined up this year, the gamer’s movie calendar will be a busy one and with Pixels not performing well at the box office, these games turned movies will have to set the bar to light up the theatres.