The video game and film industry haven’t always mixed well. There have been some really god awful film adaptations of fan favorite video games. Gamers spend countless hours playing these video games and when a studio picks up the IP to make a film out of it, there’s normally some heartache of how these films end up. However, there is one particular person who feels that he can give gamers the justice these video game film adaptations deserve.
Jean-Julien Baronnet, once CEO of the Ubisoft Motion Pictures, has now opened up a brand new studio known as Marla Studios. The goal Baronnet hopes to achieve is bringing out appealing and worthwhile video game film adaptations, but in order to do that, he plans on working closely with the original game developers.
In an interview with Jean-Julien Baronnet and Variety, the Marla Studios head had discussed his ideas on bringing out video game films. Though, unlike other film adaptations that fail to meet the expectations of fans, Baronnet will work with the creative minds behind the various video games.
“Producing a video game adaptation is a special process that not only requires movie production know-how, but also a deep understanding of gamer values and the video game creative process. The key is to have a close relationship with the game designers and to work with them on the key creative angles that will best cope with the game’s DNA. The key is to recognize the passion of gamers, given they spend hundreds of hours in that world. That makes it essential for the ‘universe’ of the game to be as accurate as possible.”
Marla Studios will help the video game companies consecutively in three areas: determining, along with the video game companies, the artistic angle and the artistic package that will serve best the IP; negotiating with the Hollywood studios a contract that will give the game company a strong creative control and high pay back; and last, but not least, implementing a deep collaborative process with the key creative people at the video game company at each stage of production.”
It seems that Baronnet means well and really hopes to see video game film adaptations become massive hits much like the recent trend of comic book superhero films. Only time will tell if Marla Studios can produce critically acclaimed video game films, but we want to know your thoughts on the matter. If there was one video game franchise that you would love to see become a blocksbuster hit, what would it be? Let us know by leaving a comment down below.
