Top 10 Upcoming Video Game Movie Adaptations

As we previously reported, WWE star John Cena has been tapped to play the titular badass in an upcoming Duke Nukem film. The movie is being spearheaded by Paramount Pictures and Platinum Dunes, from producers Andrew Form and Brad Fuller. Picturing Cena in the role isn’t hard to do at all, and when considering the mindless action and funny one-liners from the games, the potential is there for this film to be a lot of fun.

Longtime fans of Pokemon are well aware that Pikachu has already has his chance to shine on the big screen. However, the upcoming movie Detective Pikachu will be the first live-action film for the franchise. Based on the Nintendo 3DS video game of the same name, Detective Pikachu is a comedy/mystery film directed by Rob Letterman. Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds headlines as the voice of Detective Pikachu, and the film is set to release on May 10, 2019.

Last year, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to produce a Mega Man feature film after years of negotiatons. Soon after, progress was made when writers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman were tapped to write the screenplay and direct the film. The filmmaking duo is perhaps best known for helming the 2010 documentary Catfish and the horror films Paramormal Activity 3 and Paranormal Activity 4. There’s not much else yet known about the film, but producer Masayori Oka says it will be animated.

The Sony-exclusive Uncharted video games feature some of the best cinematic storytelling you’ll see in modern video games. It’s therefore no surprise that Hollywood has long been interested in developing the story into a feature film. Stranger Things director Shawn Levy is on board to helm the movie with a script from Joe Carnahan. Spider-Man actor Tom Holland will apparently play a young Nathan Drake, and he’s hoping for Chris Pratt or Jake Gyllenhaal to portray Drake’s mentor Sully.

The 2012 action/adventure game Sleeping Dogs was an amazing title to play through for fans of martial arts movies. With a compelling storyling featuring a likable lead chararcter in Wei Shen, the game practically commands to be made into a movie. In 2017, the wheels finally started to move on the project, with martial artist Donnie Yen to headline as Shen.

Warner Bros. currently has a feature film adaptation of Minecraft in the works, although they’ve hit a few speed bumps along the way. Originally, the movie was set to release in May of 2019, with co-writer Rob McElhenney directing. However, McElhenney has since left the project, resulting in a delay of the release date. The filmmaking team of Aaron and Adam Nee have since come on board to write a new screenplay for the film.

Love them or hate them, Sony’s Resident Evil movies made tons of money at the box office. Therefore, it’s no shocker that there are already plans to reboot the film franchise now that Paul W.S. Anderson’s series has concluded. It remains to be seen what new direction the rebooted films will go in, but many fans are certainly hoping for it to be more like the original video games this time.

Although the planned Five Nights at Freddy’s movie has spent a few years in development hell, it’s finally making some traction over at Blumhouse. As of now, all that’s known is that Chris Columbus will write, direct, and produce the movie. Plot information and other details are not yet known, but Jason Blum has teased a major update on the film coming very soon.

There is now a Sonic the Hedgehog movie currently in production, which is something bound to excite all of the ’90s kids out there. The movie will be a live-action film with CGI characters, along the lines of something like, say, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Ben Schwartz of Parks and Recreation is voicing the titular hedgehog, and comedy all star Jim Carrey is playing his arch-nemesis, Dr. Robotnik. The movie will be released on Nov. 15, 2019.

Certainly, the idea of a new Super Mario Bros. movie can sound questionable to a lot of people. Many still refer to the 1993 film as one of the worst movies ever made, despite its entertaining camp value. However, another movie is in the works, as Nintendo and Universal Studios struck a deal to produce a new film. Unlike the previous movie, this one will appropriately be animated, with Illumination Entertainment (Minions, Shrek) handling the production. With the live-action movie serving as a blueprint for what not to do, this new movie will give Mario and Luigi a second chance on the big screen.