In the current resurgence of video game movies, it feels like every popular video game franchise has gotten a movie adaptation. However, for every hugely successful video game adaptation, such as the Sonic the Hedgehog movies, or even the catastrophically unsuccessful ones, such as Alone in the Dark, there are just as many video game adaptations that never came to be.
Be it as a result of studio politics, a lengthy period of stalled development, or any number of other issues, plenty of potential video game-related film projects have fallen by the wayside. From potential movies for hits like The Sims and Bioshock, these are some of the most popular video games that almost got a feature film adaptation before fate got in the way.
10 ‘The Sims’
One of the World’s Best-Selling Video Game Franchises.
The Sims is a life simulation game in which players create a character and then follow a series of objectives to manage and maintain one’s life and family. It was created by game designer Will Wright, developed by Maxis and published by EA. First released in the year 2000 and spawning three sequels, several spin-offs, and countless expansions, it became a huge hit, becoming one of the best-selling video game franchises ever.
The Disney-Fox merger resulted in
The Sims
movie being canceled officially.
Due to this unprecedented level of success, as well as its enduring legacy, it seems inevitable that Hollywood would try to make a movie based on the game. In 2007, an attempt would be made, as according to GameSpot, the movie rights to The Sims had been sold to 20th Century Studios, then 20th Century Fox, with Minions writer Brian Lynch attached to write the screenplay and the producer of the Predator films, John Davis, attached as a producer. After this announcement, however, there were no new updates on the film for a long time. That is, until the Disney-Fox merger, which resulted in the movie finally being canceled officially. Not all hope is lost, however, as earlier this year, another The Sims movie was announced with Margot Robbie‘s LuckyChap Entertainment attached. Only time will tell if it’ll stick!
9 ‘SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run’
The Unmade Dwayne Johnson Movie
SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run is the canceled film adaptation of the popular arcade game SpyHunter. First released in 1983 and created by George Gomez and Tom Leon, SpyHunter became a massive hit and is one of the quintessential classic arcade games. Midway’s previous success adapting their hit fighting game Mortal Kombat made a movie adaptation of SpyHunter seem like a logical next step. Dwayne Johnson, who starred in the original game, was attached to the project for years, and many directors’ names were also mentioned.
Even more impressively, legendary Hong Kong director John Woo had also been attached to direct, lending the film some prestige. However, according to Film Stories, Dwayne Johnson confirmed on Twitter in 2018 that the movie had officially been scrapped, stating that “…John Woo was going to direct SpyHunter. We were pumped to make the movie, but it fell apart at Universal.” From this statement, it becomes clear that the film was canceled by Universal due to years of little to no progress.
8 ‘Metroid’
Samus Aran’s Years-Long Journey to the Big Screen
Metroid is one of Nintendo’s most enduring and oldest franchises. First appearing on the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short, in 1986, the series follows an intergalactic bounty hunter named Samus Aran as she takes on several threats to the universe, including the murderous Ridley, her evil doppelgänger Dark Samus, and the titular parasitic species of Metroid.
According to Brad Foxhoven, the
Metroid
film never got off the ground due to Nintendo’s mandates regarding the property.
There have been numerous attempts to bring the Metroid games to the big screen. According to IGN, the first studio to try to adapt Metroid was a company called Zide-Perry Productions, but their rights to the franchise expired. Tiger Hill picked them up, with the company’s president and co-founder Brad Foxhoven as producer, John Woo as director, and Angel co-creator David Greenwalt attached as a writer. However, according to Foxhoven, the film never got off the ground due to Nintendo’s mandates regarding the property. The abject failure of the so-bad-it’s-good classic of 1993, Super Mario Bros., soured Nintendo on the idea of movie adaptations of their game franchises to the point that they struggled to give the crew the creative breathing room needed for a Metroid movie to happen. The success of last year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie has surely made Nintendo less risk-averse, so perhaps Samus’ big-screen adventure isn’t too far in the future.
Metroid
Science Fiction
Action
Adventure
- Franchise
- Metroid
- Released
- August 15, 1987
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo R&D1 , Intelligent Systems
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
7 ‘Mega Man’
One of Pop Culture’s Most Underrated Heroes.
Mega Man is an action platformer series developed by Capcom and created by Akira Kitamura and Keiji Inafune. First appearing in 1987, the series follows the titular Mega Man as he fights through a horde of boss robots, collectively referred to as the robot masters, to reach and defeat the evil Dr. Wily. The series is highly successful, spawning a vast number of sequels and multiple spin-offs, such as Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero.
With a franchise this successful, it’s borderline inevitable that it would eventually get a feature film adaptation of some kind. Well, sure enough, in 2018, it had been announced by Capcom that there was a Mega Man movie in development at 20th Century Studios, then 20th Century Fox. However, according to The Gamer, when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, Mega Man ended up being one of the dozens of films that got canned. In spite of the clear potential and the repeated success of the creative duo behind the project (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who also directed Paranormal Activity 3), the Mega Man movie just wasn’t meant to be.
6 ‘Legend of Spyro 3D’
Video Game’s Most Iconic Dragon Can’t Find His Way to the Big Screen.
Legend of Spyro 3D is a canceled animated film based on the Spyro the Dragon video game franchise. Debuting on the original PlayStation, the series began with a trilogy of acclaimed 3D platformers. However, in the 2000s, it lost much of its luster due to a string of lackluster entries. The series rebooted in 2006 with the Legend of Spyro trilogy, which would have served as the source material for the canceled Legend of Spyro 3D.
Legend of Spyro 3D was written by the Altiere Bros, Daniel and Steven Altiere, best known for writing the universally despised animated film Norm of the North. According to Daniel Altiere, the project died after Activision pulled the plug since they were seemingly unhappy with the script the Altieres delivered, scrapping the movie entirely. However, the series was far from over, as Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, a second reboot, came out later, spawning multiple sequels, a TV series, and merchandise.
5 ‘The Last of Us’
Before HBO, Ellie and Joel Were Headed for the Big Screen.
The Last of Us is a cinematic survival game that follows a pair of survivors named Joel and Ellie as they try to navigate the dangers of the zombie apocalypse. Originally released for the PlayStation 3, the game proved to be a huge hit, so it makes sense that a film adaptation would follow.
According to Entertainment Weekly, The Last of Us co-creator Neil Druckmann had been in collaboration with Screen Gems to bring the movie to life, but it never got made. According to Jeffrey Pierce, an actor for both the game and the eventual TV series, the cancelation came down to issues with adapting the lengthy story into a 2-hour movie. The acclaimed video game would later find its way into live-action, albeit in a different medium. The Last of Us would eventually get a successful HBO adaptation that earned critical acclaim. Season 2 of The Last of Us will arrive soon, proving that some canceled movies lead to happy endings.
The Last of Us
- Franchise
- The Last of Us
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 3
- Released
- June 14, 2013
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Computer Entertainment
- ESRB
- M
4 ‘Sly Cooper’
Sly Cooper is a series of stealth-based 3D action platformers that originated on the PlayStation 2 with Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus in 2002. The story follows the titular Sly Cooper and his band of thieves as they take on a variety of dangerous criminals. The series is considered a cult classic due to its colorful cast of characters and engaging gameplay.
The film was announced in 2014, and a trailer had even been released that same year, claiming a 2016 release. According to MovieWeb, TMNT Director Kevin Munroe was attached to direct, and both Bentley and Murray’s voice actors were supposed to reprise their roles. However, the film was also being developed simultaneously with the Ratchet and Clank movie, which flopped financially and was critically panned. Thus, Sly Cooper was canceled to avoid a similar loss for the studio. There was also an animated television series being worked on after this cancelation, with Brad Foxhoven attached as a producer, according to ToonBarn, yet there have been no updates on this project in years.
3 ‘BioShock’
One of the Most Original Video Games Keeps Finding a Way.
BioShock is a first-person shooter that was first released in 2007 for the Xbox 360 and PC. The plot follows a plane crash survivor named Jack who attempts to escape an underwater city known as Rapture. The game received universal praise upon release and is still widely beloved to this day.
According to Collider, the main driving force behind the film was Gore Verbinski, director of three of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. According to Verbinski, the movie’s cancelation was due to the need for a big budget for an R-rated movie at a time when studios were favoring PG-13 projects. Verbinski mentions the relative underperformance of Zack Snyder‘s R-rated superhero movie, Watchmen, the closest comparison to a potential BioShock film at the time. Most recently, BioShock went to Netflix, where a new movie will supposedly happen; as of 2024, the project is still alive, albeit with a reduced budget.
2 ‘Halo’
The X-Box’s Crowning Jewel Eventually Made Its Way to TV.
Halo is a series of first-person shooter video games. Beginning on the original Xbox in 2001, the series follows a soldier named Master Chief as he fights against an alien group known as the Covenant. The now-infamous Halo movie was being co-produced by Fox and Universal, along with Microsoft, and The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and writer Fran Walsh were attached as producers. Future District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was attached as a director, and 28 Days Later writer Alex Garland was attached to write the script.
With a crew this stacked and a franchise popular enough to almost single-handedly keep an entire console line afloat, it may seem surprising that this film never got made. According to Jackson’s production company, WingNut Films, Jackson and Walsh stepped away after Fox and Universal didn’t move forward with financing. Blomkamp has gone on to say Fox boss Tim Rothman “hated (him),” while Jackson and Walsh remained supportive of his vision. Halo would eventually come to life with a divisive Paramount+ series, but the prospect of a Blomkamp movie remains too enticing to many.
Halo
- Release Date
- March 24, 2022
- Creator
- Steven Kane, Kyle Killen
- Seasons
- 2
1 ‘The Curse of Monkey Island’
An Animated Movie That Never Got a Real Chance
The Curse of Monkey Island is a canceled animated movie based on the Monkey Island series of point-and-click adventure games. Created by Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman, the series follows a wannabe pirate named Guybrush Threepwood as he takes on an evil demonic pirate named LeChuck.
Part of the reason for the film’s cancelation was that Steven Spielberg wanted a movie about actual monkeys instead of an adaptation of the
Monkey Island
games.
The film’s development was being helmed by David Carson, a visual artist at Industrial Light & Magic who had worked on films such as Jurassic Park, according to Polygon. Per Carson, part of the reason for the film’s cancelation was that Steven Spielberg, who was in talks to produce, wanted a movie about monkeys instead of an actual adaptation of the Monkey Island games, thus halting progress due to this sudden shift in priority. Building on this, story artist Tony Stacchi, who also worked on the canceled The Curse of Monkey Island, stated that it came down to funding, as no one wanted to finance a faithful adaptation of the Monkey Island games.
