recently learned that the live-action movie of "Borderland" has started shooting. The screenwriter of " The Hangover" is in charge of the script. The witch Lilith played by the Kate Demon and played by Kevin Hart Roland, let the players look forward to this movie.
Since last year, the trend of movie adaptations from games seems to have come again. This month alone, "Mortal Kombat: Destruction" and the ultimate doll's "Dynasty Warriors" will be released.
(It’s suffocating to read this profile...)
and the "Soul of Tsushima" and "The Last" are still being planned and produced. Movies such as The Survivor, Resident Evil (restarted version), Uncharted, Werewolf, and Hot-Blood Rogue, further illustrate that the upsurge of game adaptation movies is coming again.
But adaptation is not a profitable business. There are many trade-offs to be made in this way. This time, I will briefly summarize the film adaptation of the game and what are the factors of failure and success from the adaptation of the film that has already been screened.
Failure group
- Unclear intention
Movies are different from games. In general, movies must have a clear theme or idea, that is, a purpose. However, the pioneering work of game adaptation movies in history is also the work of giant thunder, and it seems that this is not the consideration. If it is because it did not make a good start, it would not be an exaggeration that the game-adapted movie has fallen into a strange circle for a long time. It is-"Super Mario Bros." released in 1993.
seems to be complimenting that it is unclear.Except for the protagonist’s brother’s costume and plumber’s identity, there is almost no sense of substitution. As a player, he can’t think of the original game at all. The scenes and shooting methods that completely deviate from the original style, coupled with the almost irrelevant script content, make this movie permanently left on the stigma of adaptation history.
Another example of poor reputation in the movie version due to deviations in intentions is "Hitman 47". The IP had an adaptation of the movie in 2007 and 2015. The script design of "Hitman: code-named 47 " in 2007 is remarkable. Although the characters are different from the game, the core temperament of the killer has been well restored. The fly in the ointment is that too much firework has been added for filming, and the appearance of emotional lines has led to the destruction of the cold image in the "47" game. This is also the direct cause of the direct word-of-mouth differentiation between the player group and the general audience. The idea, on the contrary, brought a negative effect to the film.
In 15 years of "Code 47", not only did not progress in all aspects, but it was a bit worse than the 07 version. The cast is not enough to fit the character's temperament. It is a trivial problem, but he is good at assassinating the ultimate killer. The geese should pass without leaving marks and kill people invisible. How can they shoot passionately in the street, with fierce firepower, comparable to "T800". In addition, the plot is too procrastinated. "47" even gave up the sophisticated plan and fully served the exciting scenes of the movie. Therefore, this kind of adaptation method that does not understand the character's intention at all, even with a box office score of 100 million, will still be disparaged by the audience for nothing.
- Not all types of games are suitable
It’s not that all the authors of the game’s early IP reorganization, but they have not thought about expanding the influence of the game Is suitable for game adaptation.I thought that "Mario"'s first break has already served as a warning to the adaptation market, but some people don't believe in this evil. Span1span Capcom, who thought it had learned its lesson, brought the popular game "Street Fighter" to the big screen in 1994 while reducing movie elements. The result was still a fiasco of word of mouth, and all parties were right. His verbal and penal condemnation.
Although this does not affect the 100 million global box office that relies on the attractiveness of IP and big-name actors, the loss of game IP and player enthusiasm is still too large. After that, Capcom seemed to have learned his lesson and stopped adapting the movie. Until 2009, Capcom personally produced "Street Fighter: Legend of Chunli", a bad film that surpassed the previous one. As for how bad it is? Not only did this movie fail to recover its costs, it also directly caused the "Street Fighter" movie universe in Capcom's project to vanish.
You may not be able to see anything by just looking at Street Fighter. At that time, there was another IP that wanted to enter the film industry, and this was the "Mortal Kombat" series.
The first film in the series was released in 1995. It was a dark horse and at a lower cost, it earned $122 million in the box office. The evaluation aspect is also better than all previous adaptations of IP, which is quite successful. So the film party took advantage of the heat and released the sequel "Mortal Kombat 2: Fighting Annihilation" two years later, but this time he failed to achieve the desired results.
In fact, the failure of this adaptation is traceable. The most critical factor is fighting games, which are really not suitable for adaptation into movies. Fighting IPs such as "The King of Fighters", "Tekken", and "Dead or Alive" have all tried to film, but due to the lack of plot, the movies cannot be deeply explored, so these movies all ended in failure. Although there is a very large space to produce original plots, the weak structure of the IP itself makes it difficult to customize the script for it, even if a good plot is produced.It is also difficult to withstand scrutiny. In addition, the excessively exaggerated character action skills in fighting games are also very difficult to restore from a realistic perspective. If you only restore the character costumes like "Street Fighter", it will only cause a huge gap between fans and audiences.
- too many fans to
After all, the game is adapted from a movie, and the biggest audience group is still game fans. This is indeed a significant proportion, but it is completely focused on satisfying the tastes of fans, which is often counterproductive.
"Halo" adaptation of the movie "Span1span Halo 4 : Sailing Dawn" belongs to the representative of fan Xiang, let an audience of non-series game players to evaluate it, it is likely that it will not be praised.
There is no beginning and no end to the story, and it is unclear after watching it. Therefore, the experience of listening to expert lectures across the line makes ordinary viewers have to give up. However, in the eyes of fans, the film has a huge amount of details, and the plot can also resonate everywhere. The characters' lines and the hints on the details simply make the series fans climax to the sky. Because of this purely fan-oriented way of filming and television, although the film has achieved great success in the fan community, it is inevitable that the outside world will think that this is another niche carnival, it is difficult to open up the market, and after all, it is impossible to escape the enclosure. Fate.
Another less obvious example is the movie version of " Warcraft ".
Because Blizzard has been planning for a long time, plus Duncan Jones has already found a very unique production model in the commercial film market, making people have a lot of attention to the "Warcraft" movie. High expectations.Thanks to the innovative selection and adaptation of this huge IP story, the film can be regarded as a non-derivative independent work. Even so, the common problem of telling a long story in a short time has not been avoided, so it seems that a single film is not attractive enough. Fortunately, there are a lot of game stalks buried in the movie, as long as the players understand it. Therefore, this is a problem for fans to the movie, which was obscured by the excellent box office.
Success Group
- is not limited to the original game
Considering that the adaptation is not fabricated, most of the content is still based on the basis of the game, but it will limit the rhythm of the movie, so there is Many movies have decided to adapt the original content based on their strengths and weaknesses.
The most successful example in recent years is "Sonic the Hedgehog". The film cleverly retains all the characteristics of the character, integrates the story into the real society, and reuses existing production technology. , Let the overall story get rid of the possible sense of isolation. Taking the opinions of the audience and taking the initiative to overthrow the character image and redo it, and earned a reputation for the film ahead of time. Although it is inevitable that the plot is weak, it is still worth watching as a family-friendly movie.
can also be made without the original, and there are also the "Resident Evil" series of movies. This series, which is increasingly deviating from the original game, has been criticized by many fans, but its success is still undeniable. The protagonist has been completely original since the first part, and it seems to have hinted that the slap-wife madman is not going to play cards according to the routine, but the protagonist of the series of games all come to cut the scene to make the classic operation of the vase, which is still very surprising. Perhaps it is the timeless benefit of the zombie theme. Regardless of the style change or the increasingly outrageous plot of the series, the audience is always willing to buy it.
The first two parts are more or less adapted from game works.But since the third film, I started to release myself. It exists solely for the sake of making a cool film. Although it is not desirable, the box office of six films far exceeds one billion U.S. dollars, which also proves the commercial possibility of changing IP to films. Even the great director James Cameron said frankly that he liked the "bad taste" brought by the first film in the series.
- Moderately easy Easy and witty adaptation.
I have to mention "Pixel Wars", this film is not adapted from a certain IP. Although it is not successful enough, it is still a representative of the success of the adaptation. This film, which can be said to move the audience purely with feelings, is easy and fun, which can be regarded as the key to its success. The characters in the movie are several "old" players who are good at playing video games. Although the plot is clichéd and boring, the presentation of the game has inspired many people to sympathize with the pixel games of the 1980s. The film production of pure comedy, with a relaxed atmosphere, completes the memory of an era. In this regard, the film is undoubtedly a success.
"Detective Pikachu" withstands the polarized word-of-mouth evaluation, and got 8 points from IGN and an evaluation from IMDB6.6, plus a box office of 430 million dollars second only to "Warcraft" , Enough to prove that the film is still a success in the adaptation. To talk about the reasons for its success, the relatively relaxed plot atmosphere and the performances that favor comedic effects should add a lot of points to the film, especially the dubbing of Pikachu was handed over to the male god uncle who starred in the "little cheap". Contrast Meng has gained considerable favorability.
There is also a relaxing movie worth mentioning. It is a classic that exists deep in the memory of Chinese people-"Super School Overlord".
Just how strong this star-studded nonsensical comedy is, everyone can probably tell how good it is, so it is also the most highly-rated real-life adaptation of the game on Douban. the film. The reason for its success is probably due to the luxurious cast, and the nonsensical performance full of comedy effects.
- Animated
Game adaptation does not necessarily have to be limited to live performances. Adapting to an animated movie seems to be a routine that will never fail. Of course, with the exception of "Dragon Blood", no one wants to understand, after all, does V agency want to make animations for fans, or should it take a different path and enter the animation market?
"Angry Birds" series of movies and "Invincible Destruction King" series of movies can fully illustrate the superiority of animation.
First of all, don’t worry about jumping out of the original background frame, because the characteristics of the animation include all kinds of exaggerated designs; second, you don’t have to worry about the restoration of the characters. After all, it is an animation. In the end, there is no need to worry about the plot. The game itself is in a state where it can be highly creative. As a carrier, animation expands this creative freedom. Therefore, no matter what content is adapted, animation can be perfectly compatible. Simply put, the fault tolerance rate of the adaptation is extremely high.
This is proved by the two old IPs of "Street Fighter" and "Resident Evil". Although "Street Fighter"'s live-action movies were made in a mess, the level of animated movies still saved their face, and even one after another was produced.
Although the live-action movie of "Resident Evil" is too off-track,Fans have complained about this, but the animation of the series is very loyal to the original game. Not only are the characters familiar to the players appear on the stage, but also the CP that can be exaggerated. It is a perfect adaptation.
Summary
Games and movies are actually completely different art forms, and they all have certain difficulties if they want to be compatible with each other. Games emphasize interactivity and initiative, while movies are more experiential and appreciative. Two types of content with completely different rhythms need to be highly converted. This is a real challenge for producers.
Fortunately, after years of accumulation and progress in the market, not only the technology can achieve ideas that can only be assumed in the past, but also the popcorn industry and the in-depth study of the content have been improved. Therefore, there have been more and more adaptations of game IP filming in recent years. It is expected that there will be more and more high-quality adapted films on the market to meet the diverse needs of players and audiences.
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