'Sonic the Hedgehog': Video game adaptations may have a chance at a comeback if the movie shines at box office
Adapting a video game for a TV show or a movie is one of the hardest jobs a writer could ever face. It's almost impossible to please all of the fans of the game and do justice to the source material while creating a unique experience.
Perhaps this is why video game movies have historically had a terrible track record at the box office but it does look like things may be changing for the better. With the success of projects like 'Detective Pikachu' and 'The Witcher', it does seem as if the tide is finally turning in favor of video game adaptations.
One of the biggest criticisms of video game adaptations has always been the fact that a movie or TV show cannot afford viewers the same sort of immersive experience a video game provides. In a few more years, that might stop being the case considering we already have proof-of-concept for interactive storytelling in the form of 'Black Mirror: Bandersnatch'.
Throw in the fact that Virtual Reality tech is becoming more and more common, it won't be long before the words "immersive experience" take on a whole new meaning. Of course, all that is still a few years away at least but what about right now?
Part of the reason why 'Detective Pikachu' was so successful was that it didn't try to replicate the game. It instead took the premise and some of the more major elements of the game and reworked them into a whole new story, which seems to have worked because the new story was actually good.
We could look at this as a great way to do more video game adaptations that are inspired by the games but not a scene-by-scene replica of the source material. Ultimately though, it really all comes down to how much attention the project's writers put into the plot and world of the movie because after all, nobody wants to watch a terrible movie just because it's based on a popular game.
In a few more days, 'Sonic the Hedgehog' will be hitting theaters. Despite a few initial roadblocks, the movie is expected to be a really fun adventure comedy, in keeping with the iconic source material.
Whether the movie will actually live up to expectations or not, we don't know yet. But what we do know is that its success or failure will go a long way in determining whether more video game adaptations hit the screens in the future.
'Sonic the Hedgehog' is scheduled to arrive in theaters on February 14.
