Some video games have been adapted into films and television series.
History
1986-1992: First feature films
Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! and Running Boy Star Soldier no Himitsu, were among the first two and earliest feature films adapted from video games in the 1980s, both films were made for Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. Three Dragon Quest films were released prior in July 1992 to the following year.
1993-2001: Super Mario Bros. and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
After a few animated films adapted from video games began in the 1980s; The first live action film based on a video game of the same name, Super Mario Bros., was released on May 28, 1993, to critical and commercial failure. Critics including Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert have divided opinions over the plot, inconsistent tone, and lack of faithfulness to the source material.
Reception
Critical response
Many films based on video games have often received generally mixed or negative reviews, often for their screenplays, casting choices, and lack of originality or loyalty to the source material. From 2019 to 2022 according to review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, only five video game films had a "fresh" (60% or above) rating on Rotten Tomatoes: The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019), Detective Pikachu (2019), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), and Gran Turismo (2023). Werewolves Within (2021) became the best-reviewed film based on a video game.
Additionally, only nine video game television series had a "fresh" (60% or above) from 2017 to 2023: Castlevania (2017), Carmen Sandiego (2019), Dragon's Dogma (2020), Arcane (2021), Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Halo, Sonic Prime, and The Cuphead Show! (all in 2022), and The Last of Us and Twisted Metal (all in 2023); with Arcane, Carmen Sandiego, Castlevania, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and The Last of Us received universal acclaim and garnered over 90% of approval ratings, having considered five of the best video game adaptations ever made.
Revenues
In the video game film adaptation box office, only six films had a box office gross with more than $400 million worldwide as of April 2023: Warcraft (2016), Rampage (2018), Detective Pikachu (2019), Uncharted (2022), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022), and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), with the latter becoming the first video game film to ever pass the $1 billion mark and among one of the top 50 highest-grossing films of all time.
Awards
In television series, Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners have won multiple awards from nominations including; Annie Award for Best General Audience Animated Television/Broadcast Production, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program, and The Game Award for Best Adaptation for the former; 7th Crunchyroll Anime Awards for Anime of the Year for the latter; all of which are the first two video game adaptations to win these major honors. The Last of Us received five nominations at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards and nineteen at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, making it the first live-action video game adaptation to receive major awards consideration.