From gaming PC and console to the silver screen, some of our favourite gaming characters have had the Hollywood treatment over the years. But, with every new adaptation comes the question, “Will it actually be good this time”?
To celebrate The Super Mario Bros’ second run at the big screen on April 5th, British electronics retailer, Ebuyer, have revealed the most successful gaming adaptations of all time by combining scores from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Metacritic, along with box office gross.
So, which are the diamonds in the rough when it comes to gaming movie adaptations? Below are the top ten most successful gaming movie adaptations according to the research:
The Most Successful Gaming Movie Adaptations:
| Rank | Title | LifetimeGross ($) | OpeningGross ($) | Critic Rating | Audience Rating | IMDB rating | Metacritic Score | Total Score |
| 1 | Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) | 148,974,665 | 58,018,348 | 63% | 93% | 6.5 | 46 | 5.48 |
| 2 | Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) | 144,105,346 | 54,365,242 | 68% | 79% | 6.5 | 53 | 5.31 |
| 3 | Uncharted (2022) | 148,648,820 | 44,010,155 | 41% | 90% | 6.3 | 45 | 4.65 |
| 4 | The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) | 41,667,116 | 10,354,073 | 73% | 84% | 6.4 | 60 | 4.51 |
| 5 | Mortal Kombat (2019) | 42,326,031 | 23,302,503 | 54% | 86% | 6 | 44 | 4.13 |
| 6 | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) | 90,759,676 | 30,095,259 | 37% | 58% | 6.6 | 50 | 4.09 |
| 7 | Rampage (2018) | 101,028,233 | 35,753,093 | 51% | 72% | 6.1 | 45 | 3.87 |
| 8 | Mortal Kombat (1995) | 70,454,098 | 23,283,887 | 45% | 57% | 5.8 | 60 | 3.86 |
| 9 | The Angry Birds Movie (2016) | 107,509,366 | 38,155,177 | 43% | 46% | 6.3 | 43 | 3.73 |
| 10 | Tomb Raider (2018) | 58,250,803 | 23,633,317 | 53% | 54% | 6.3 | 48 | 3.72 |
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) raced into the top ten with the 2020 adaptation ranking top of the list. Not only did the movie break the record for the best opening for a video-game movie pulling in over $58 million, but the movie is also a fan favourite with a 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes – earning a respectable rating from critics too, with 63% on average.
Although the original animated movies failed to make the top ten, the live-actions Detective Pikachu (2019) came in second with Ryan Reynolds playing the iconic pocket monster. Also pulling in a cool $54 million on its release, it also pulled in the second-highest critics score on Rotten Tomatoes at 68%. Unchartered makes up the top three, despite being released in 2022 it has pulled in over $148 million dollars so far, thanks to a star-studded cast including Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.
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The Least Successful Gaming Movie Adaptations
When it comes to the biggest flops, the top ten were revealed as:
| Rank | Title | Lifetime Gross ($) | OpeningGross ($) | CriticRating | Audience Rating | IMDB rating | MetacriticScore | Total Score |
| 1 | Alone in the Dark (2005) | 5,178,569 | 2,834,421 | 1% | 11% | 2.4 | 9 | 0.15 |
| 2 | House of the Dead (2003) | 10,249,719 | 5,500,000 | 3% | 1% | 2.1 | 15 | 0.24 |
| 3 | BloodRayne (2005) | 2,405,420 | 1,550,000 | 4% | 17% | 2.9 | 18 | 0.54 |
| 4 | Double Dragon (1994) | 2,341,309 | 1,376,561 | 12% | 26% | 3.9 | 0.66 | |
| 5 | In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007) | 4,775,656 | 3,265,000 | 4% | 22% | 3.8 | 15 | 0.73 |
| 6 | Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009) | 8,742,261 | 4,721,110 | 3% | 18% | 3.7 | 17 | 0.78 |
| 7 | Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) | 35,927,406 | 16,771,694 | 4% | 24% | 3.6 | 11 | 0.90 |
| 8 | Wing Commander (1999) | 11,578,059 | 5,114,365 | 1% | 25% | 4.3 | 21 | 1.15 |
| 9 | Street Fighter (1994) | 33,423,521 | 6,859,495 | 11% | 2% | 4 | 34 | 1.53 |
| 10 | Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) | 17,529,157 | 8,023,036 | 8% | 35% | 4.9 | 16 | 1.55 |
Alone in the Dark (2005) took the crown for the biggest video game-movie flop, with a total score of just 0.15 out of 6, earning a respectably terrible 1% critic rating. This led to the adaptation being nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Picture and Tara Reid being awarded the accolade of the worst actor. The adaptation of the SEGA franchise House Of The Dead (2003) fared a little better at a just 3% critical rating and pulling in just $5,500,000 in overall box office gross.
Commenting on the research Courtney Williamson, Marketing Manager at Ebuyer said “Over the past couple of years there has been a resurgence of video-game movie and TV adaptations, with series such as The Last Of Us hitting it off with the public. With movies such as The Super Mario Bros and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 set to be released this year, we wanted to sift through to find the best of the bunch – so gamers themselves don’t have to!”
To find more interesting gaming chat, please visit: https://www.ebuyer.com/blog/category/gaming/
I’m only surprised that Tomb Raider is at the bottom of the list and Sonic at the top. I would have expected them both to be in the top-ten, but reversed. Not that I’m complaining, the world needs more nimble hedgehogs, after all.