The history of movies based on video games has been a little less than stellar. Whether it’s games like Need for Speed, Super Mario Bros., Assassin’s Creed and even he upcoming Tomb Raider, they just don’t seem to work as movies. That fact doesn’t deter PUBG Corporation CEO Chang Han Kim though who discussed PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds being turned into a movie.
Speaking to Inven Global, Kim said that, “I’d like PUBG to become a universal media franchise based on the game. We want to take part in diverse industries including eSports, movies, drama, cartoons, animation, and more. In fact, we received a couple of love calls from a number of developers in Hollywood and Netflix. Our dream is to build a new game-based culture through various ways like this, and have the lead of that culture.”
It’s not as if the Battle Royale genre hasn’t made for some compelling cinema. The overall inspiration for the genre comes from Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale released in 2000 which was based off of the 1999 novel. The Hunger Games franchise has also proven that a Battle Royale-like set-up can make for a compelling story.
That being said, what PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds really fit as a narrative into all of this? Or will it fall flat just like so many other Hollywood movies based on games have? We’ll have to wait and see what’s eventually cooked up to find out.