Video game adaptations were big business for Hollywood in 2023. More importantly, titles like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Twisted Metal were actually faithful adaptations of their respective games. After sitting through seven live-action Resident Evil movies that couldn’t get it right, that was a breath of fresh air.
We also have high hopes for the seven video game adaptations we can’t wait to see in 2024. These films and TV shows appear to be much more faithful to the source material than many previous video game adaptations. It took Hollywood a few decades before the studios figured out that this was the best way to appeal to gamers and moviegoers. Hopefully, that trend will continue this year.
7. Devil May Cry
Netflix hasn’t shared a lot of info about the Devil May Cry animated series, but the show is being produced by Adi Shankar, who was behind Netflix’s very popular Castlevania adaptation.
Devil May Cry follows a demon hunter named Dante who has a knack for killing supernatural beasts with style and flare. None of the voice cast members for this show have been announced yet, but Netflix will likely reveal that information in the next few months.
Devil May Cry will premiere on Netflix later this year.
6. Sonic the Hedgehog 3
The first two Sonic the Hedgehog movies may not have had numbers comparable to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but they were still very successful. That’s why Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is going to be Paramount’s big movie this Christmas. Director Jeff Fowler will once again be helming the film, with the following confirmed cast members: Ben Schwartz as Sonic the Hedgehog, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Miles “Tails” Prower, Idris Elba as Knuckles the Echidna, James Marsden as Tom Wachowski, Tika Sumpter as Maddie Wachowski, and Lee Majdoub as Agent Stone.
It doesn’t look like Jim Carrey will return as Dr. Robotnik, but Shadow the Hedgehog will make his big-screen debut in the film.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will hit theaters on December 20.
5. Halo season 2
Halo season 1 went a little off-course with its Mandalorian impression, but the second season appears to be setting up Master Chief John-117 (Pablo Schreiber) for his crusade to find the ring world called Halo, which could change the course of humanity’s war with the alien Covenant.
All we really want out of this show is Master Chief and the Spartan super soldiers fighting against the Covenant. If Halo season 2 can deliver on that front, we’ll be happy.
4. Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft
There have been three Tomb Raider movies to date, and not one of them has fully captured the things that make Lara Croft such a dynamic character. Netflix’s animated series, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, may change that in a big way.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One‘s Hayley Atwell is providing the voice of Lara, and the show is incorporating the backstory of the reboot trilogy with elements of the original Tomb Raider titles. That sounds like a winning formula to us.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will premiere on Netflix later this year.
3. Borderlands
So far, Lionsgate has only shared the preview image above from Eli Roth’s adaptation of Borderlands. However, Roth’s cast is one of the key attractions for this film. Cate Blanchett has the leading role as the outlaw Lilith, with Jack Black as the voice of the wisecracking robot called Claptrap; Kevin Hart as a mercenary named Roland; Ahsoka‘s Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina, and Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Patricia Tannis.
The storyline will revolve around Lilith and her new team as they attempt to rescue “the missing daughter of the universe’s most powerful S.O.B., Atlas.” If Roth can deliver a film that’s as much fun as the games, then this could be the sleeper hit of next summer.
Borderlands will hit theaters on August 9.
2. Fallout
Amazon Prime Video‘s big video game adaptation of 2024 is just around the corner. Prime Video hired Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy to adapt Fallout as a series, and we’re already intrigued by what we’ve seen so far. Justified‘s Walton Goggins (pictured above) has a leading role as The Ghoul, a mutated bounty hunter who has been alive for a very long time.
The other lead for this series is Ella Purnell’s Lucy, a young woman who has lived in a protected vault for her entire life. Lucy’s never seen the radioactive wasteland before, but she’s going to have to make a new life for herself there once she is on her own. Fallout isn’t adapting any particular game from the franchise, but it appears to be drawing aspects from several titles while maintaining its retro-future aesthetic. That’s exactly what we wanted to see.
Fallout will premiere on Prime Video on April 12.
1. Arcane: League of Legends season 2
War is coming in the long-awaited second season of Arcane: League of Legends season 2. Netflix is really trying our patience by making us wait three years between seasons. But this was an animated show like no other, and its stunning visuals were backed by an emotionally resonant storyline of two sisters: Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and Jinx (Ella Purnell).
There was already a brewing conflict between Piltover and Saun, but Jinx literally lit the fires of war in the first season finale when she weaponized Piltover’s own creation against them. What Jinx doesn’t realize is that she may have destroyed the only chance at peace because Piltover’s high council had just passed a resolution to give Zaun its independence right when Jinx’s weapon hit their building. The consequences of that moment are going to be immense.
Arcane: League of Legends season 2 will premiere on Netflix in November.
