Has the hex on video game adaptations been broken?

The “video game movie curse” is a relic. 

Having to balance the expectations of die-hard fans of the game and viewers new to the franchise, filmmakers have a unique challenge in bringing video game stories to a new stage. Until recently, it was rare to produce a commercially and critically successful film adaptation. Now, that’s changed. 

To find trends in this niche genre, Capital News Service gathered box office numbers and data from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes for 52 movies across three decades. We selected films based off of The Numbers’ “Based on Game” category and Rotten Tomatoes’ video game adaptation list.   

Whether the movies have simply gotten better or critics are more receptive to these films, the data shows that in the last five years video game adaptations have enjoyed critical success heretofore unseen.

Before 2018, the highest rated video game adaptation was actually the fourth ever released in theaters: Paul W.S. Anderson’s “Mortal Kombat” in 1995. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 45%, it would be the reigning champion in the genre among critics on the site until 2018’s “Tomb Raider.”

Following developer Crystal Dynamic’s 2013 reboot of the classic video games, the “Tomb Raider” franchise was reborn on the big screen five years later. Alicia Vikander took over Angelina Jolie’s iconic role as Lara Croft, brandishing a bow and arrow over her traditional dual pistols.

Although it only received a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was a new high for video game adaptations. The film was also successful in the box office, bringing in $274 million on a $90 million production budget. Despite this, the sequel was scrapped over intellectual property disputes according to Screen Rant.

Nine of the 12 video game movies to follow “Tomb Raider” would not dip below 45%, the previous record, on the Tomatometer. Including movies released in 2023, the trend holds. The average Rotten Tomatoes score from video game movies in the last five years is 59%, nearly triple the average for movies released before 2018 (20%).

This year’s “Dungeons & Dragons” currently holds the highest rating ever for a video game film adaptation, although the number is subject to change as new reviews are published. Released on March 31 in the United States, The Numbers reported that the movie has already made back over half of its budget in ticket sales. While mostly known as a tabletop role-playing game, over 20 video games related to “Dungeons & Dragons” have been produced.

Matt Donato, a film critic, avid gamer and freelance writer has written about the video game adaptation curse (or lack thereof) and its place in today’s media industry. Donato said that when the first video game adaptations came out, critics weren’t demographically the ideal audience.

“They were a lot of old white guys who probably didn’t play video games, who probably thought the medium wasn’t up to snuff with movies,” Donato said.

A Tomatometer percentage is a score meant to sum up the views of selected critics. Donato was Rotten Tomatoes accredited in 2013, and he said that in the last five years and even earlier, the site has worked hard to “expand the critic pool” and include more diverse voices in their reviews. his could help explain the recent boost in ratings. He maintained that the “curse” is only bandered about as clickbait.

“A ‘video game adaptation curse’ is something that we are upholding just to keep some kind of vitriolic discourse going,” he said.

In recent years video game movie adaptations have begun to attain larger revenues. “Warcraft” in 2016 had the highest gross revenue with $439 million in ticket sales, and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” in 2022 made the most return on its budget, raking in $402 million from $90 million in production. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” just broke the record for largest global opening weekend as an animated movie with ticket sales landing at $375.6 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Of the 47 total movies surveyed, 16 failed to recoup their budgets at the box office. 2001’s “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” fared the worst, losing $52 million.

“Werewolves Within,” which holds the highest Rotten Tomatoes score before 2023 at 86%, only earned $865,000 in the box office with a $6.5 million budget. It had a limited theatrical release on June 25, 2021 before appearing on digital platforms just a week later.

Several of these films, like the original “Tomb Raider” trilogy and the “Resident Evil” series, attracted a cult following.

Data visualization by Dylan Shulman for Capital News Service. (Sources: The Numbers, Rotten Tomatoes / Photo Credits: Sony Pictures Releasing, Universal Studios)

Video game adaptations aren’t limited to film, and “The Last of Us” phenomenon alone proves their potential on the small screen. HBO Max’s take on Naughty Dog’s popular Playstation franchise starring Pablo Pascal and Bella Ramsey garnered a dedicated audience. The finale recorded a 8.2 million viewership, 75% more than its pilot, IGN reported.

While streaming series aren’t exactly comparable to movies in theaters, these do earn much higher ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. An honorary mention is Netflix’s “The Witcher,” which debuted in 2019 and boasts an Certified Fresh rating of 95% in its second season. However, Henry Cavil’s monster slayer is based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s original novels, not CD Projekt Red’s smash-hit series of role-playing games.

Apple TV+ has also dipped a toe into the video game genre with 2023’s “Tetris.” While not technically an adaptation, the movie follows the true story of Henk Rogers who worked to popularize the game in its infancy.

While stable commercial success still eludes this beloved genre, the critics of Rotten Tomatoes have sounded the bell on a new era in film and TV where the player can sit back and happily become just a viewer.