With hit movies able to surpass the $100 million mark and video games being all the rage, is it any wonder that the two often go together? Ever since the release of the film adaptations of such games as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat, the film world has been searching for that next great franchise. To help give you a better idea of what’s to come, we have gathered the five video games which were turned into the Top Video Game Movies of all time.
1. Resident Evil
When this horror game about killing your way out of a mansion full of zombies first debuted, no one thought it would be the highest grossing video game franchise of all time. There are four cinematic film entries starring Milla Jovovich, which have totaled over $500 million in box office sales, and another big screen adventure in the works. There are also various animated films of the game that are available on DVD.
2. Tomb Raider
Angelina Jolie is perhaps most recognized for her role as Laura Croft from the various Tomb Raider games. Much like the above, the game often involves fighting your way out of haunted tombs and features a female lead character. The two feature films with Jolie as Croft grossed over $430 million in ticket sales. While they will not be completing a trilogy with Jolie, studios are itching to continue the franchise on the big screen with a new lead actress.
3. Prince of Persia
The old PC game found new life as a movie and in several other gaming platforms. However, with top notch action producer Jerry Bruckheimer leading the way and Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role, the movie made over $312 million at the box office. This makes it the single highest grossing video game movie of all time.
4. Mortal Kombat
Although the first entry to this film franchise debuted over 15 years ago, it remains one of the top video game films of all time. The first film made over $122 million at the box office, while the sequel Annihilation made $51 million. This puts its total at over $173 million box office dollars. In addition to the movies, the video game spawned multiple live action series, including a recent web series that starred Jeri Ryan and Michael Jai White.
5. Hitman
While some might guess that big name stars, such as The Rock in 2005’s Doom or Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, might get the fifth spot, it didn’t happen that way. This 2007 film starred the lesser known Timothy Olphant as Agent 47, who is an assassin for hire. The film’s total is just under $99 million and barely beat out 1994’s Street Fighter for the fifth spot. Hitman has had four video games in its series.
This guest article was written by Sara McDowell. She is an avid Gamer and owns and operates the gaming centric site Video Game Design Schools.
