Why Video Game Adaptations are Overtaking Superhero Movies
By Movieguide® Contributor
After over a decade of dominance at the box office, Hollywood is finally shifting away from the superhero genre as video game adaptations set up to be the industry’s next content well.
2023 was a monumental year for video game adaptations. While content in the genre had been trickling in during the years leading up, seven movies and 19 TV shows based on video game IPs exploded onto the scene. The overall gross for the genre more than doubled, as combined domestic ticket sales reached $712 million, up from $340 million in 2022.
Superhero movies, meanwhile, dropped dramatically as nearly every major release underperformed or flopped. Combined domestic ticket sales grossed $1.02 billion, a far cry from the $1.75 billion generated in 2022.
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE led the charge for video game adaptations, finishing the year in the No. 2 spot at the box office and setting new records for animated movies along the way. The movie was a fresh spin on a beloved IP which catered to child and adult audiences alike. It’s family-friendly, moral, non-violent story set it apart from nearly every super hero movie that released. THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE received a Teddy Bear Award® for the Best Movie for Families in 2023.
Part of Movieguide®’s review reads:
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (2023) has a strong moral message about brotherhood, sacrifice, and working together to overcome evil. The movie has breathtaking animation that honors its iconic source material while breathing new life into the large cast of characters from both Mario video games and other Nintendo games of the same universe. For Mario and Luigi, love for one another helps them overcome their deepest fears and stand up against Bowser and his army of Koopas, Goombas, and Piranha Plants. Due to some intense animated action/violence, Movieguide® advises caution for younger children.
The superhero genre, however, often spouts violence and—with Marvel under the direction of Disney—push immoral agendas that are often unsuitable for children. Audiences are also fatigued by the amount of superhero content which has been ceaselessly generated for over a decade.
For the average fan, superhero storylines are often too much work to follow as watching numerous movies and TV shows is often required to fully understand the characters and their relationships.
While video games often have deep lore, moviemakers are opting to follow less detailed plots while including homages to the deeper story for fans looking for easter eggs.
Along with the unrelenting waterfall of superhero content, the genre has become extremely corporate, causing many projects to feel like soulless cash grabs. Video game movies, meanwhile, are currently being created by passionate fans who wish to bring their favorite stories to the big screen. They also focus on stories of good conquering evil, a theme popular with moviegoers.
With large audiences and passionate moviemakers, today’s video game adaptations feel like the early stages of the superhero boom in the late 2000s and early 2010s. As video games become Hollywood’s next big thing, fans can only hope the projects maintain their passion and morals, rather than follow super heroes down the corporate route.
Movieguide® previously reported:
It’s no secret that Marvel has struggled to maintain its massive popularity since ENDGAME was released in 2019; executive producer Brad Winderbaum explained why the franchise has struggled as of late and how they plan to fix the problems.
“We’ve learned a lot. We produced a lot of content very quickly, and we’re primarily a filmmaking company,” Winderbaum told ComicBook. “So, you can see that our first round of shows have had a very movie-like structure: they arc out the characters by the end; they feel like a standalone limited series.”
The MCU also flooded the market with a new series or movie releasing almost every month for years. This has led to fan burnout as the quality of the productions slipped and the time commitment to track all the divergent stories became overwhelming.
“Marvel’s primary contribution is just being the standard-setter and being guilty of doing too much too fast and in a way that rushed things at times and resulted in less coherence and thus less resonance,” Forbes reported.
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