Summary
- Sony is looking to adapt Astro Bot into a movie or TV series due to its success and established audience.
- Video game adaptations have seen positive changes as movies and TV shows have improved to cater to gamers.
- Astro Bot has sold 1.5 million units and might join other PlayStation titles in receiving adaptations.
Piggybacking on the huge success of video game adaptations over recent years, which include The Last of Us and Amazon's Fallout, Sony is now looking at broadening its video game horizons even more with an Astro Bot movie or TV series. Adaptations of some of gaming's most beloved video games haven't always been a success, with the likes of Uwe Boll's 2008 adaption of the popular first-person shooter series Far Cry which, even though the budget was $30 million, made less than $800,000 globally.
The 2010 adaptation of The Prince of Persia and Monster Hunter, a 2020 adaptation by Resident Evil director Paul W. S. Anderson, didn't do any better. However, over the past few years, the dire situation has thankfully changed where fans have received video game adaptations that aren’t just good according to past standards, but movies and TV shows that have actually had thought put into them from the viewpoint of gamers and not just Hollywood execs. Following in the shoes of the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog, Detective Pikachu, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the highly acclaimed title developed by Team Asobi looks like it could be next on the ever-growing list, according to PlayStation Productions lead.
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An Astro Bot Movie or TV Series Is Being Considered by Sony
In an interview with Variety, PlayStation Productions lead Asad Qizilbash revealed that the company is "absolutely" considering a movie or TV series adaptation of the beloved video game title, Astro Bot. When asked about how PlayStation Productions decides which games should get the video game adaptation treatment and if they will prove to be worth the risk, Qizilbash explained that Astro Bot picked up numerous awards last year, including the Game Award for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024 and the D.I.C.E. Award for Game of the Year at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, so it has since built up an audience of enthusiasts. "For us, it’s, ‘OK, we’ve established one of our franchises as a great game. It’s starting to get a built-in audience. It’s winning awards.’ Those are very early indicators for us to want to try and grow that franchise and grow that IP."
“I think what people have seen in Hollywood is that video game adaptations, if done right, can actually be very popular, and they scale really well. That’s been a big sea change that I’ve seen in the last five, six years, since we’ve really started to come and deliver some great content. Because of that, there’s a confidence level that the film industry is seeing. For one, they’re seeing that some of the great creative ideas of stories are coming from video games — and I truly believe that some of the best stories you are seeing are from video games.”
Astro Bot has also sold 1.5 million units as of November 2024, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 5 games, so it makes sense that Sony would want to give the family-friendly platforming title an adaptation spin. However, Qizilbash did note that it's not just awards and nominations that are the driving force behind adapting a video game for them, as some IPs just have "great stories that a creator really wants to adapt it.” This will prove to be an interesting factor for Astro Bot as the games don't really include in-depth narratives and merely follows the storyline of an adorable robot who goes on quests to save lost Bots, retrieve parts for the mothership, and defeat aliens but if the success of the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie is anything to go by, sometimes the simplest things in life can become some of the best.
Astro Bot isn't the only project up PlayStation Productions' sleeve. The company also has adaptations of God of War, Ghost of Tsushima, Gravity Rush, Horizon, and Days Gone in the pipeline, so it seems as though fans of video game adaptations will be eating good for the foreseeable future.
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Source: Variety