It’s not surprising, however, that the video game and movie industry have joined forces. Both video games and the movies are billion-dollar enterprises ($8 billion for the movies, $6 billion for video games) and can mean big bucks at the box office. But as studies go to show, success isn’t always guaranteed. From the beginning of the first movie adaptation of a video game, Super Mario Brothers (1993), those dollar signs were looking juicier by the minute. The happy-go-lucky game with the cheerful music was turned into an awful, depressing gross out film starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the Italian brothers. The film made a disappointing gross of $20 million. The popular Double Dragon game series was also unsuccessful onscreen in Double Dragon: the movie (1993) only grossing a pitiful $2.3 million. The video game front began to make a turnaround when Mortal Kombat (1995) came around the block. The film’s budget of $20 million was easily regained with a gross of $70 million proving that successful video games can become successful movies. Unfortunately, they don’t always produce successful sequels because the follow up, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), grossed only $45 million. Other video game to flops includes the Jean Claude Van Damme vehicle Street Fighter (1994) which grossed only $35 million and the high quality Wing Commander series’ movie adaptation plunged at the 1999 box office with a gross of only $12 million.
A Video Game Summer
Video games began looking up when summer time came around this year. High profile movies seemed to be coming and among them were Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. Ever since 1995 gamers have been awaiting Tomb Raider and its busty heroine Lara Croft. The big budget actioner ($120 million) seemed to have it all: wild actress and Lara lookalike Angelina Jolie, high profile director Simon West and Eidos Interactive’s greenlight. The movie did well with a successful opening of $47 million, yet did not however do so well the second weekend. Square Pictures’ Final Fantasy suffered a dissimilar fate opening at $11 million ultimately gaining $76 million compared to its eye- popping budget of $120 million.
