For the week of 1.23.06
Media "tie-ins" are not new. In the
19th century, dime novels featuring Buffalo Bill Cody were
sold to promote interest in Cody's live Wild West shows, and in the
earliest days of silent film, the first multi-part film serial, What
Happened to Mary, was a dramatization of a story appearing in
Ladies' World magazine. And so it has gone, from filmic adaptations
of popular comic strips and books to big-budget films of novels from
1939's Gone with the Wind to today's Da Vinci Code. Of
late, films have featured adaptations of previously popular television
series. But another and more ominous trend is also manifesting itself –
the adaptation to film of violent video games.
In 2005, video game sales
hit an all-time high of $10.5 billion this year, with sales of portable
hardware specifically up 96% over last year (Advertising Age,
January 16, 2006).
When Rockstar Games, the
video game maker behind the controversial Grand Theft Auto
series, originally released their film Sunday Driver on Sony's
PSP, a video-game console which also can play digital music files or
display movies, analysts were skeptical that people would want to watch
movies on such a small screen. But many studios -- including Lions Gate
Entertainment Corp. and Walt Disney Co.'s Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Inc. -- have now moved to release movies in the PSP format. (Washington
Post, September 23, 2005)
But the influence of the video-game industry on Hollywood
goes far beyond adapting to new formats in technology. Increasingly,
Hollywood is making movies based on videogames, drawing on the game fans
as a built-in audience. The first movie based on an existing video game,
1993's Super Mario Bros., grossed just $21 million. Since that
time, movies based on video games have increased their profits, as ever
more young people play the games on which the movies are based.
Paramount Pictures' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider grossed $131 million
in 2001, while Screen Gems two Resident Evil movies grossed $110
million and $129 million worldwide respectively. (Reuters, October 21,
2005)
"When studios start making them with passionate
first-rate directors and good writers, they can be as big commercially
as any of those movies." -- filmmaker Adrian
Askarieh, who is producing an film adaptation of the video game
Hitman. (Reuters, October 21, 2005)
Halo 2, a mature-rated video
game in which the player is a gunman who kills aliens invading Earth,
made $125 million its first day it was sold in stores -- more than
Hollywood's highest-grossing movie opening. Halo 2's sales launch
was featured in specials on MTV and Spike TV.
"Halo has the potential to
be the Star Wars of this generation." -- David
Comtois, producer of the documentary film Video Game Invasion. (Advertising
Age, May 16, 2005)
Now, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures are teaming
up to make a feature film adaptation of Halo. Peter Jackson and
his wife Fran Walsh, the creative duo behind The Lord of the Rings
trilogy and the recent remake of King Kong, have agreed to serve
as executive producers for the upcoming big-screen adaptation of Halo.
Jackson will give creative input on the film, and his Weta Digital Ltd.
and Weta Workshop Ltd. will provide creatures, miniatures and visual
effects for the production. (Reuters, October 21, 2005)
Film director Steven Spielberg has agreed to develop three new video
games under a long-term exclusive deal with video game maker Electronic
Arts Inc., makers of best-selling games Madden NFL and The
Sims. Their deal involves much more than the Hollywood director
merely putting his stamp on a game or popping in for quick
consultations, said EA vice president Neil Young. Spielberg will have an
office in EA's studio and plans to work side-by-side with game
developers to create original game concepts in the hope that Spielberg's
storytelling talents will create games that will engage players
emotionally. Spielberg is fascinated with video games; in a speech last
year, Spielberg told film students they could change the face of film
making if only they played more video games. (AP, October 14, 2005)
The video game Postal, which has been banned in 13
countries and publicly condemned by U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, is also
being adapted to film. Uwe Boll, director of the horrifically gory films
BloodRayne and House of the Dead, plans to film the movie
in late 2006. The movie or its DVD release will coincide with the sales
of a new game, Postal 3. The film will introduce the mainstream
audience to its lead character, the Postal Dude, "an average white-trash
guy living in a trailer who smokes pot, drinks beer and hates his wife."
The character is a "first-person shooter," meaning that the gamer sees
the world through the lead character's eyes. You aren't merely watching
"the Postal Dude" blow people away – you are the killer. "The film
will have all the political incorrectness and American craziness from
the game," says Boll. (Reuters, October 25, 2005)
"I don't see a backlash from this film because for
whatever reason, the mainstream media only single out the games industry
when it comes to violence. Filmmakers can pretty much do what they
please." --Vince Desi, CEO of independent game
developer Running With Scissors (Reuters, October 25, 2005)
Nor are such efforts limited to film. Fox Broadcasting
plans to turn THQ Games' best-selling science-fiction video game
Destroy All Humans! into a computer-animated comedy, which will mark
the first time a video game will be used as the basis for a primetime
network television program. The game puts players into the bulbous gray
head of Crypto 137, an alien who has landed on Earth and is intent on
destroying it. (Reuters, October 25, 2005
And in June 2003, Fox Broadcasting also entered a deal
with The Sims creator Will Wright to create original TV show
concepts. (Reuters, October 25, 2005)
This trend is of concern because of the tremendously
graphic nature of many video games, particularly in their depiction of
violence, sex and profanity. The National Institute on Media and the
Family's president and founder David Walsh, cited increases of 3,000
percent in profanity and 800 percent in sexual content in M-rated games
since the 1990s (CBS/AP, November 29, 2005). Various other games break
new ground in depictions of violence, such as graphic scenes of
cannibalism in Stubbs the Zombie, in which the lead character
eats the brains of humans as blood splatters across the screen; gang
warfare against police in The Warriors; and a rogue police
officer gunning down victims in True Crime: New York City. Even
seemingly innocuous games, such as those featuring football, have a
darker side: Blitz: The League depicts football players hiring
prostitutes and engaging in drug deals. (CBS/AP, November 29, 2005)
Given the already excessive levels of graphic violence in
movies and on television programs such as Las Vegas, CSI and
Law and Order: SVU, it is likely that a closer relationship between
Hollywood and video game producers will lead to an increase in films and
television programs which, like video games, will feature ever more gore
and violence.
"With video games and all the entertainment options, it
really takes a lot to impress audiences today. The level of violence
and gore cannot be too intense for a lot of people. Horror fans in
particular are very keen on seeing the most intense, violent images they
can…Some might say it's a reflection on society, how desensitized we've
become to violence." -- Paul Dergarabedian,
president of the box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations (Metromix.com,
January 17, 2006)
Culture Watch - Entertainment Industry News
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
