For a long period of time, when it came to video game-adapted movies and television shows, they were far from great. Quite a bit of the source material was dropped in favor of new directions that failed to captivate the veteran fans or newcomers to the IP. But that has been changing a bit lately, with the likes of HBO’s The Last of Us proving that following the source material closely could provide just as thrilling of an experience for veteran fans along with viewers who haven’t experienced the video game. With The Super Mario Bros. Movie now out in theaters, one actor is hopeful that the next adaptation comes from one of Rockstar Games’ biggest titles.
Jack Black is an iconic comedian actor that has recently been in the headlines again due to The Super Mario Bros. Movie. If you haven’t noticed, Jack Black is the actor who portrays the film’s main antagonist, Bowser. But the actor is also quite a bit of a gamer, and it was during an interview on the BBC that the actor spoke about the recent rise in video game adaptations. According to Jack Black, he feels the film and television industries are shrinking and wasn’t sure what the playing field would be like in the next few decades. However, the actor does feel like there will be more storytelling from the gaming universe hitting theaters or television screens at home.
Again, the example given was The Last of Us, as Jack noted just how loyal the production was to the original source material. In fact, the actor felt that the game was used as a storyboard when the production went in to craft the television series adaptation. But if you were to ask him what should be adapted next, it has to be Rockstar Games Red Dead Redemption. According to Jack Black, the storyline from Red Dead Redemption was just as good or even better than the storyline we received from The Last of Us.
There are quite a few incredibly detailed video game narratives out there that would make for great candidates for a film or television series adaptation. It’s also clear that they can be quite successful if enough care is given to the source material. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what productions get picked up next and if this could start a video game adaptation boom.
