Warner Bros. Finds Capcom's 'Lost Planet'

It's interesting to me that we're seeing so many video game movies popping up these days. Only one adaptation of a video game has ever made $100 million in the U.S., and that's the first Lara Croft movie. Since then, the $30 - $50 million range is about all they can muster, and that's just counting the successful ones. Nothing against the movies themselves, as some of them are pretty entertaining, but I can't fathom why this seems to be a new trend from the perspective of the studios. Seems risky to me to go after all of these titles when there has been very little to cheer about in the genre so far. And yet, Gears of War, Kane and Lynch, God of War, Prince of Persia, and Bioshock have all been announced this year, and there's always talk about Halo. Some will stick, others will not, and now we have another new title to bring to your attention: Variety reports that Warner Bros. and Capcom will spearhead a big screen version of Lost Planet. Avi Arad, who you know from the opening credits on all the Marvel films, is set to produce, while David Hayter, a video game voice over artist who worked on the upcoming Watchmen script, will develop the screenplay for this adaptation. Curiously, Lost Planet is about, of all things, a lost planet. Actually, it's an ice planet that contains some kind of energy source that could be the key to the survival of the human race. The reason I bring up the box office performance of all these previous video game movies is that Lost Planet has sold two million copies. Even if everyone who bought the game buys a ticket and brings a friend, you're only looking at $30 - $40 million in box office. Somehow, they have to sell this concept outside of the video game audience. That's what Avi Arad does well, of course, and hiring an "it" screenwriter with a good legacy with video games won't hurt. So it'll be an interesting case study. It sounds like an interesting project to develop and visually, it has a real opportunity to stand out from some of its brethren. But can it generate huge numbers by inventing its own audience? Or will it be another movie that didn't live up to the game and didn't fulfill its movie aspirations, either?

Comments

[Orinn]

Some of these games, like Bioshock have a great premise and interesting world that can easily be moved to the screens and wider audience. Others like Kane and Lynch that did no business as a game and might be able to work as a movie would probably be better of just creating a movie that is similar but is not officialy tied to the franchise.
The reverse is also true, if you ever played starcraft you cant deny that the marines and zerg are based off starship troopers and aliens.