While we all thought that the video game movie curse died a long time ago with the existence of the TV series The Last of Us (2023) and Fallout (2024), Borderlands may have brought the curse back to Hollywood. There’s no denying that there have been amazing video game movie releases in the past few years, breaking box office records like The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023) and Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2019). Thus, the trajectory has increased and exceeded people’s expectations for video game adaptations today.
Many video games contain interesting lore and storylines, stunning visuals, and crazy fighting scenes that deserve to be shared outside the gaming world. It is a fantastic experience to watch your favorite games come to life accurately with the source material built with effort. However, certain adaptations were real disappointments and big commercial failures.
Here are five video game adaptations that were not marked safe from the curse:
Borderlands (2024)
Borderlands is the latest game adaptation to hit theaters that, unfortunately, might be the biggest flop in Hollywood this year. With a budget of over $110 million, the film only made $18 million globally on its opening weekend. It broke the internet when it received an astonishing low score of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics said that the characters were one-dimensional, had a confusing narrative, and had a lot of plotholes. Borderlands came at a time when people were embracing video game adaptations, but it singlehandedly pulled us back to when adaptations were perceived as mediocre.
Assassin’s Creed (2016)
Assassin’s Creed, starring Michael Fassbender, is known to have low ratings on its 2016 release. The movie is based on a video game franchise, Assassin’s Creed, which was published by Ubisoft. Fans respect the film’s attempt to be faithful to the game, but they can’t criticize everything the film failed to do. It has all the ingredients for a successful game adaptation: renowned actors, an ample production budget, and a solid fan base. Unfortunately, it was due to poor writing, “boring” visuals, and lack of the game’s selling point, parkour, that fans weren’t happy with.
Mortal Kombat (2021)
The game Mortal Kombat franchise started in 1992 and continues to expand until now. It is reasonable for fans to have high expectations for the adaptation of a legendary fighting game that shaped a lot of childhood memories. However, instead of upholding the game’s legacy, Mortal Kombat (2021) brought shame. This also applies to older adaptations, Mortal Kombat (1995) and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), a failed attempt at a realistic approach to the game’s lore. People believed the movie was fun, but it’s far from perfectly handling the storyline, character development, and choreographing fighting sequences.
Doom (2005)
Contrary to the films previously mentioned, Doom (2005) has a low budget, resulting in low ratings from critics, generally receiving unfavorable reviews. Dwayne, “The Rock” Johnson as the lead actor, was the selling point of the adaptation, but his portrayal and acting couldn’t save the terrible horror action movie. Fans were disappointed as they didn’t capture the R-rated nature of the game franchise.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)
We all know that the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movie was bad, but we can’t deny that we all had a huge fat crush on Angeline Jolie making the film bearable. Unfortunately, its flop reputation was caused by poor CGI, bad costume designs, dull fighting choreography, and a complicated plot. However, the Tomb Raider game wouldn’t attract new players if it weren’t for this movie.
Let’s hope the video game adaptation curse won’t spread like a plague this time.
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