Adapting movies from video games is no easy thing. It sparks fear and discord among burned Hollywood executives who’ve had to throw money in the trash for Super Mario, the Prince of Persia, and Hitman (and possibly again with Agent 47). Why would The Witcher be any different?
This is a recent post I published on Moviepilot concerning the future of The Witcher, a popular series of video games adapted from short stories and novels written by Andrzej Sapkowski. In it, I give a crash course on what The Witcher is, where it came from, and where it’s likely going.
Needless to say, I think this franchise is gearing up for a massive release across mediums. And we should all take notice.
I’ve been saying this for years. We got three Hobbit movies and ANOTHER Hitman movie before a faithful Witcher reboot?
I think that it would beat out the Hobbit in theaters and compete with Lord of the Rings. But….as fantasy/middle earth video games come, Skyrim is number one. You can ride a dragon and kill dragons, and speak the language of a dragon, and have the soul of a dragon, and make pies. Who doesn’t want to watch two hours of that one the big screen?
Read the article and I agree that the games are better to adapt than the books. I’ve read most of the Hexer stuff and it’s not that great compared to Project Rekts’s take on it. Can you say Peter Jackson?
They hit release prices of close to a hundred bucks and players wait-out until prices drop and wait for the reviews.Too many games, like Shadow Of Mordor, Remember Me, come with complex control-manipulation, unlike the Halo series which really is the benchmark for uncomplicated gaming enjoyment. Even though the story-lines are great, one has to ask: how many times do I have to do that to finish this effing game. I’ve given up on Doom3, as I can’t get the big guy in the wheel-chair, so it goes on the unfinished-rack. And to hear the replay dialogue over and over and over and over and over…you get me? As I’ve said before in this blog, there’s a big and growing market out there for older-dude gamers like me. I have my name on most of the red-star-rocks in FarCry 3 and get through Halo4 on the hardest level without retry,retry,retry. And so investors and producers should get real about the obstructions they put in place of finishing a damn good story. I know you will say go to the easiest-level options, but even they are frustration continuum as though somethings wrong with the game engine…like Sniper One and Two. In One I crouched behind a rock and got shot through it. The disk got smashed and went to the bin. Don’t make them mission-impossible.Don’t make them too expensive.
What I also meant to say that too many of these games overlook the fundamental storyline of classic gripping literature. The player needs to empathise with the characters. How many millions are waiting to see if Cortana comes back as the Master Chief’s AI. Will she be cured of her rampancy? Will the remote, unfeeling MC, conqueror of universal threats be conquered by a sexy deep-feeling, hologram? Beyond the expected action there’s an expected interaction. It’s what makes us human. It’s why we watch movies and buy expensive games.You know what I mean. Can’t wait and won’t wait till H5 drops in price to buy it.
I’d rather not see this series destroyed by Hollywood. As an example, I’ve been a Warcraft fan since the first game was released and I’ve always wanted a movie. Now that there is one, I’m reminded of how bad video game movies always end up being. The Witcher is spectacular as a game. It would be a cheap CGI action movie with a weak plot on the big screen.