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- What Is The Sims Series?
- How Could A Sims Movie Work?
- Is A Sims Movie In The Works?
There always seems to be talk about the next video game to get the film adaptation treatment. Surprisingly, The Sims is a part of that conversation. A lot of people were shocked when Nintendo opted to take another shot at a Super Mario Bros. movie, and clearly, it did not disappoint. That massive success has a lot of people eyeing other game series for what may be the next big thing. One series that is often loved, especially by casual gamers, is The Sims. This fun little simulator game lets anyone live whatever kind of life they want.
Despite the game’s simplistic nature (at least on the surface), many fans have been calling for a Sims movie for years. Even various studios have been interested in the potential of a Sims movie, and yet fans have been left out to dry. Many people wonder whether The Sims would or could ever work in a movie format.
What Is The Sims Series?
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The Sims Main Series |
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|---|---|
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The Sims |
February 4, 2000 |
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The Sims 2 |
September 14, 2004 |
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The Sims 3 |
June 2, 2009 |
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The Sims 4 |
May 6, 2014 |
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The Sims 5 (Project Rene) |
Announced: October 18, 2022 |
There have been a variety of fun and varied Sims games, but the core series ranges from 2000’s The Sims, to 2014’s The Sims 4 (including all the fun expansions for each game). From the beginning, the series has been about allowing a player to set up their own cast of characters in their own world. Players can interfere as much as they want or, for the most part, stay out of their Sims’ lives and see what the fascinating AI system will have the characters do next. A player can help their Sim live up to their aspirations and become an incredible person, let them wallow in filth, or even become a vile criminal.
As the years have gone on, the possibilities in the games have only continued to grow. Perhaps most interesting of all, the main series does seem to be set within the same timeline, leading to deep lore. With a fifth Sims game reportedly in the works, a variety of spin-offs to try, and hundreds of hours to spend in the main games, fans have no shortage of fun to have with the series. At its heart, the game may be a social simulator that can be compared to a much more complex version of playing with a few toys, but to fans, it is so much more.
How Could A Sims Movie Work?
This question depends on the narrative that a studio would be interested in taking. Realistically, The Sims could work in either an animated, live-action, or hybrid style if the right story is told. The one major struggle is that the point of The Sims is to give the player a chance to play within the massive world and create their own adventures and stories. Luckily, there are two major movies that a Sims movie could take inspiration from. These are Ryan Reynolds’ Free Guy, and the Will Ferrell’s Stranger Than Fiction. Of course, those are just two examples. A unique animated story set within the world of The Sims is also possible, thanks to the bizarrely deep lore of the series.
Free Guy is a feel-good film in which an NPC in a famous video game decides to go against the rules of the game and begin acting like a player in his own right. The film is set both in the real world and the video game world. In a Sims movie, a setup like that could be a lot of fun with the right narrative. A lucky Sim or even a society of Sims could realize that one man’s sudden inspiration to become an astronaut and blast off from his backyard isn’t an everyday occurrence. This could result in the Sims becoming self-aware, which plays well into both comedy and drama. This could allow for two unique narratives to play out, one in live-action, and the other animated or in a hybrid style, all while weaving the two narratives together.
In Stranger Than Fiction, a relatively boring and ordinary man begins to hear his life being narrated, only to discover that a writer is dictating what will happen to him. In another setup that can be both dramatic and comedic, a Sim could begin to understand that they are being instructed to do a variety of things, and that they’re being told they enjoy those things. Of course, if that is the case, a sudden personality shift in someone close to the Sim would allow them to come to terms with the fact that everyone is being controlled by some force that they can’t understand. What that means for a Sim and whether they attempted to rebel in some way could of course be explored. The audience would understand that it’s a narrative crafted by a person playing the game. This would lead to the eventual end of the Sim world either through the character simply growing tired of and forgetting the game, or marching that Sim toward their bitter end.
Is A Sims Movie In The Works?
No one wants to be the one to break sad news to fans of The Sims, but a movie doesn’t seem to be on the table right now. All the way back in 2007, 20th Century Fox had announced their intention to make a Sims movie with a writer and director both attached to the project. Yet more than a decade later, nothing came of it. When Disney ended up acquiring 20th Century Fox, any hopes of making The Sims as a movie were dashed as it was officially canceled. An article from Techraptor takes a more pessimistic approach to Sims fans’ desire for a movie when reporting on the movie’s cancelation:
“While the cancellation of
The Sims
film is unlikely to be mourned by many, there is a chance that an inspired film was lost.”
That may sound like a bad thing to most people. Yet, leaving The Sims’ film rights in the hands of Disney might be the best thing for the series if fans hope to one day see some version of the game series on the big screen.
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