The Super Mario Bros. Movie has officially broken the $1 billion mark at the box office. At the time of writing, the joint project between Nintendo and Illumination Studios has grossed $1.045 billion worldwide. It is now the eighth-highest-grossing Universal release of all time. Furthemore, it is just $7 million shy of becoming Universal's second-ever film to gross $500 million at the box office.
The film is also still being received incredibly well. While it still holds a 59% critics rating, it also has a 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has proven to be a smash-hit, both with fans of the games and general audiences alike. But where does the genre go from here?
What's Next For Video Game Adaptations?
2023 has been a year of both critical and financial success for the video game adaptation genre. On the financial side, you have The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the first video game adaptation to make $1 billion at the box office. But 2023 has also seen critical successes. The primary example of this is HBO's The Last Of Us. Also upcoming is the much-anticipated third season of The Witcher. Elsewhere, Season 2 of Halo is reportedly in production, despite middling reviews for the first. In short, video game adaptations are big business right now.
So now the genre stands at a crossroads. On the one hand, this year's successes have shown that there is a market for well-received, financially successful video game adaptation. But to find that success, you need to invest the time, effort, and money to create an adaptation that the engrained fanbase you are inheriting will enjoy. Because at the end of the day, while mass appeal is all well and good, the driving force behind the success of your video game project is getting the long-standing fans on board. For example, the Jason Mamoa-led Minecraft has been relentlessly mocked on social media after it was announced. There are dozens of reported video game adaptations in the works. However, the current "golden age" of the genre depends on studios learning the right lessons from the successes of Mario and The Last Of Us.
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