In July 2023, “The Last of Us” made history for a video game TV show adaptation. One of these programs finally received a slew of Emmy nominations. HBO’s hit show was recognized in the Outstanding Drama Series Emmy category as well as other categories for Directing, Acting, Writing, and many of its impeccable crafts. It was a tremendous feat that signaled a shifting tide for video game adaptations within the entertainment industry. Seeing “The Last of Us” nominated alongside the most prestigious “adult” TV shows on the planet was a sign that video game adaptations had gone from being an automatic punchline to being capable of earning real artistic merit from the industry. While the Emmys have opened their doors to video game adaptations, it’s difficult to see the Academy doing the same at the Oscars for films based on video games. Obviously, this weekend’s release of Eli Roth’s critically panned “Borderlands” will be no different. Still, to this day, a video game movie has never been nominated for an Academy Award, an outcome that isn’t surprising but does reflect the proclivities of Academy voters.
Video game movies haven’t just been divisive; they’ve also been outright terrible for almost all of their existence. Even in the early days of superhero movies, Richard Donner’s “Superman” or Tim Burton’s “Batman” showed up to lend some artistry to the realm. By contrast, video game movies were populated with stale Uwe Boll directorial efforts and shamefully derivative would-be blockbusters like “Doom.” To label something a “video game movie” was a disgraceful insult. No wonder the Academy wasn’t lining up to give “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” or “Hitman: Agent 47” Oscar nominations.
Not helping matters was that the older-skewing Academy almost certainly did not grow up in an era where video games were considered “art.” This same institution has held similarly retrograde ideas regarding comic books, a medium that has existed far longer than video games. The realm of DreamCasts and GameCube’s was likely foreign to voters. Art directly sourced from those realms would be a tough sell to Academy voters. Let’s be clear, though the dismal quality of 99% of video game movies was the primary factor in their Oscars exclusion. The Academy’s struggles with more modern forms of media are just another odd wrinkle in this saga.
Interestingly, though, a handful of movies rooted in the world of video games have scored Oscar nominations over the years. For instance, both “Wreck-It Ralph” installments secured Best Animated Feature nominations. In 2022, “Free Guy” largely secured a Best Visual Effects nomination for its digital effects work, realizing a video game world. Meanwhile, actual video game adaptations “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Warcraft” were shortlisted as potential nominees for Best Visual Effects. The Academy doesn’t outright ignore all media related to video games, a reality reinforcing the dreadful quality of this subgenre.
Something else hurting the chances of Oscars getting into video game movies is that they’re typically action blockbusters. That domain rarely makes it to the Academy Awards outside of a handful of technical categories. “The Last of Us” primarily functions as a dark neo-Western, which allows it to fit nicely into modern prestige TV norms. Video game movies, meanwhile, are typically large action-oriented productions like “Rampage” that do not come close to fitting the conventional form of an Oscar heavyweight until we get a video game movie adaptation that’s more “The King’s Speech” than “Uncharted” Oscars will almost certainly elude this subgenre.
It’s doubtful significant studios will be looking to whittle down the video game movie into more intimate spaces anytime soon. In the last few years, projects like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Uncharted,” and the “Sonic the Hedgehog” films have finally taken video game movies to box office heights previously reserved for comic book adaptations. Now, all the major studios are in a frenzy to get video game movie adaptations off the ground as four-quadrant tentpoles. Not emphasized in that mix are intimate dramas in the vein of “The Last of Us.” The increased production rate of these titles could lead to Oscar-friendly dramas inevitably getting made. However, they won’t be the number one priority for studio heads.
If any upcoming video game movie could pull off that hat trick, it might be Chad Stahleski’s proposed “Ghosts of Tsushima” movie. This filmmaker has been very open about his passion for this PlayStation adaptation, which would be entirely rendered in Japanese dialogue and commit to the dark aesthetic of its source material. It’s unclear, though, if Sony/Columbia Pictures is actually interested in financing such a project. Also wielding some conceptual award season potential is the proposed “Death Stranding” movie at A24. That critically acclaimed video game could really cut loose as an avant-garde motion picture with A24 financing and distribution. Given this indie studio’s stellar Oscar track record as of late, “Death Stranding” could eventually find its way to the Academy Awards if it ever gets made.
For now, though, the concrete future of video game movies appears to be centered more on creating the next “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” rather than crafting a big screen equivalent to “The Last of Us.” Given that the video game movie is only increasing in notoriety in the future, it’s a given that audiences will eventually someday see a video game movie nominated for high-profile Oscars. When that happens, much like when “The Last of Us” got all those Emmy nominations, it’ll be an intriguing sign of how the perception of video game adaptations is shifting in the culture. Perhaps it’ll even herald that the days of video game movies being known for “Alone in the Dark” above all else are finally over.
Do you think we’ll see a film based on a video game receive an Oscar nomination any time soon? Have you seen “Borderlands” yet? if so, what did you think of it? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.
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