Sega Is Adapting Two Video Games Into Movies That No One Asked For
Video games are an extremely popular form of entertainment across the world. However, it still takes an awful lot of success for a feature film video game adaptation to be considered. The "Resident Evil" franchise made a pretty successful leap to the big screen thanks to director Paul W.S. Anderson and star Milla Jovovich, the husband-and-wife director-star duo who reteamed in 2020 to bring another video game franchise to the big screen: "Monster Hunter," the mythology of which is dense enough for plenty of movies.
But for the most part, the tragic history of video game movies has been just that: tragic. That's one of the reasons that film studios don't tend to take risks on video game material unless it's popular enough to be a household name. A couple of recently announced upcoming video game adaptations from Sega appear to buck that trend, and it's kind of puzzling to think about whether anyone is clamoring for a movie version of other of these two fairly obscure games from the company's 1990s heyday.
Movies based on Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone are reportedly on the way
The Hollywood Reporter has the news that Sega and film production company Picturestart ("Cha Cha Real Smooth") are teaming up to bring two Sega titles to the big screen. But the two games in question aren't exactly well known to the general public like, say, "Sonic the Hedgehog."
The games are "Space Channel 5," the rhythm-based music combat game that was first released in 1999, and "Comix Zone," the superhero-inspired action game from 1995.
No one might have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of "Space Channel 5" or "Comix Zone" to the world of movies, but that doesn't mean they won't be successful. With the success of the new "Sonic the Hedgehog" movies on their hands, Sega seems to be digging into their catalog to see if there aren't any more future blockbusters tucked away, similar to how Marvel exploited relatively obscure characters like the "Guardians of the Galaxy" and turned them into pop culture phenoms.
Both projects are in the scripting stage, with Barry Battles and Nir Paniry signing on to write "Space Channel 5" and Mae Catt scripting "Comix Zone." Only time will tell whether these adaptations will be able to join the elite fraternity of video game movies that actually work.