Mario movie star Jack Black hoped someone makes a Red Dead Redemption movie, as video game adaptations prove more popular than ever. Black, who voices Bowser in Nintendo and Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. Movie, made the comments during an interview with the BBC, where he said he expects more video game storytelling in TV and cinema in the coming years.
“I’m a fan of adaptations, when done right,” Black said. “The Last of Us [HBO] was fantastic. It’s going to win all the awards.They used the video game almost like a storyboard and I was like, ‘Whoa, this looks just the same.’ And there are some great games that have yet to be explored in television or film. Maybe there’s going to be a Red Dead Redemption movie? There should be, because I think that [has] just as good or [an] even better story than The Last of Us.”
Red Dead Redemption and its prequel-sequel Red Dead Redemption 2 follow an outlaw gang of cowboys, misfits, and criminals at the turn of the 20th century as they try carving a place for themselves in a society where greed and modernization at all costs take priority over human lives. Red Dead 2 won nearly two dozen awards when it released in 2018 and even earned a BAFTA nomination for best game.
Rockstar turned down the chance to make a Grand Theft Auto movie in the early 2000s, but that was a different era for film and certainly for television. Now, Black thinks games with strong stories or recognizable characters have a much stronger chance of successfully making the jump.
“The TV and film industries seem to be seeing a little bit of shrinkage,” Black said. “It will be interesting to see what happens to the entertainment industry over the next 20 to 30 years but I think we will be seeing more storytelling from the gaming universe.”
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
