Highlights
- Video game movies often have high budgets to recreate game worlds and characters, but success varies.
- Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and Warcraft had large budgets, but received mixed reviews.
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after decades, is finally being made with a $100 million budget by Illumination.
Video game movies have become huge in recent years, amassing large audiences of veteran players and new fans alike. The most recent video game adaptions have attempted to use the fame of the game to bring in box office acclaim, but to do that, a rather large budget might be needed to create the expansive and creative content seen in some favorite games.
Whether successful or otherwise, there have been plenty of video game movie adaptions that have featured inflated budgets. Some have had great box office returns, whereas others have been less than so, providing a lens into the risks of making expensive movies based on iconic video game properties.
5 Pokemon: Detective Pikachu (2018)
Budget: $150 Million
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%
- Release Date: 10 May 2019
- Director: Rob Letterman
A 2018 movie with a budget of $150,000,000, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu would bring the Pokemon franchise to the big screen for the first time in live-action, filled with creatively respectable depictions of some truly iconic Pokemon like Charizard, Mewtwo, and of course, Pikachu. The use of budget is pretty obvious, as the detail in these live-action CGI Pokemon is clear, especially when the emotive Detective Pikachu is played by Ryan Reynolds of all people.
Detective Pikachu sees Tim Goodman team with a rare talking Pikachu in an attempt to solve the last case of his recently deceased father. With Ryme City and beyond filled with all sorts of memorable Pokemon, it’s no shock that a high budget is needed to bring these characters to live for one of Nintendo’s ultimate franchises.
4 Warcraft (2016)
Budget: $160 Million
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%
- Release Date: 30 May 2016
- Director: Duncan Jones
Warcraft was perhaps the most ambitious video game movie ever made, as it attempted to bring forth the expansive World of Warcraft to the big screen. The creativity and love for the franchise are clear, and its attempt to bring forth another Avatar can definitely be seen in its huge $160,000,000 budget for a 2016 movie. Sadly, this gamble did not pay off, even if international markets seemed to enjoy it.
The film itself isn’t the most welcoming or interesting to newcomers, and the story of human survivors teaming with mutually aligning orcs to stop a dreaded orc horde from invading their world simply failed to provide interest. The use of budget is clear with its giant CGI creatures, costumes and visuals, but the film itself wasn’t as beloved as one might hope for the famed series.
3 Assassin’s Creed (2016)
Budget: $125 Million
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 18%
- Release Date: 21 December 2016
- Director: Justin Kurzel
One of the most famous video game franchises of all time, it’s no surprise that Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed would come to the silver screen. Yet, what fans didn’t expect was a star-studded cast with the likes of Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, and Jeremy Irons to eat at the budget for a whopping total of $125,000,000. Whilst many of the sets were impressive, the scripts were less than so, providing a lacking entry into the acclaimed series with a critically received low.
Assassin’s Creed didn’t build on the story of Ezio or other famous Assassins, and instead provided a new lens for audiences unfamiliar, explaining the technology and sinister nature of Abstergo, all whilst a modern man discovers his ancestry through the hood of a skillful Assassin.
2 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)
Budget: $185 Million
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 36%
- Release Date: 21 May 2010
- Director: Mike Newell
Jake Gyllenhall is Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a film that attempts to replicate the success of Pirates of the Carribean, but to not much success. The confidence in the movie is clear thanks to its whopping $185,000,000 budget, which for 2010, was extremely inflated and bloated, marking one of the most expensive movie risks of all time which certainly wasn’t able to pay off in the end.
Low satisfaction from critics and fans, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time may show a young prince attempting to stop a generic evil scheme with an interesting magical dagger capable of reversing time, but there’s just not enough in the story to warrant such a high budget or a continuation of the story.
1 The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Budget: $100 Million
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%
- Release Date: 5 April 2023
- Directors: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
It took decades for Nintendo to let their iconic characters return to the big screen. Decades after Super Mario Bros. failed to impress audiences, Nintendo teamed with Illumination, the creators of Despicable Me for their most expensive movie to date. It was no easy challenge in bringing the iconic cast of characters from the Mushroom Kingdom and beyond to a beautifully CGI rendered world, but it was achieved for a high price.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie features as an origin point for Mario and Luigi, who stumble into a magical new world. Separated and desperate to save his brother, Mario must team with the Mushroom Kingdom to find Luigi and become the hero that Princess Peach needs against the dreaded forces of Bowser and his conquest for the star of power.
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