Over the years, many movies have been adapted from popular video games. They have either performed very well or bombed at the box office. While the reasons for such polarity are not concrete, we think it is a balancing act when filmmakers decide to make films on gamer’s favourite characters like Lara Croft or Mario, or video games. Sentiments of the gamers and the storyline should converge at all times, while developing new story lines around it.
We have curated a list of 10 Movies Based On Video Games that were totally loved by movie buffs and gamers. And we think, you’ll like them too. Read here:
A Minecraft Movie released in April 2025 and caught the attention of audience worldwide. It is about a group of misfit teenagers who are are transported to the Minecraft world through a portal. And even though this world seems fun, it is full of dangers. To return to their real world they seek the help of an expert mine crafter Steve.
The fantasy adventure comedy film is based on Minecraft video game by Mojang Studios.
Based on Sonic Video Game series, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an action adventure comedy film. In the movie, Sonic teams up with Tales and Knuckles to stop Shadow the Hedgehog and his allies, from acting against humanity and taking revenge. The plot of the film is based on not one but two video games of the series : Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog. Based on Sonic Video Game series, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an action adventure comedy film.
3. The Super Mario Bros. Movie
It is an animated adventure comedy film based on Nintendo’s popular video game Mario. The film is about Mario and his brother Luigi, Italian- American Plumbers and their journey in life. They are separated after being transported to a different world. The battle between Mushroom Kingdom and Koopas brings them together. This is not the first film based on Mario video games. In 1993, Super Mario Bros. released, it was a live-action film. It failed to impress the critics and did not perform well at the box office. On the other hand, The Super Mario Bros. Movie released in 2023 became the highest grossing video game film adaption of all time.
4. Gran Turismo
It is a biographical film on a British sports car driver Jann Mardenborough. The film is based on the sim racing video game series. It is about a teenage Gran Turismo player who goes on to become a professional racing car driver. It is a sensational account. Archie Madekwe stars as Mardenborough.
Pokemon Detective Pikachu is a film based on Detective Pikachu video game. It is a fantasy and live action film. The film is about detective Pikachu and his friend Tim on a mission o find Tim’s dad who dissapeared mysteriously. Ryan Reynolds lends his voice and motion capture to Pikachu’s character.
It is an action fantasy film based on a video game series of the same name. An Orc horde is transported to planet Azeroth through a magical portal. In order to survive, they must kill the native humans. While the humans team up with dissenting Orcs to protect their land from the invasion. But, the complexities of the humans and Orcs, really makes it difficult to label it just as a good versus bad story. And even if you have no idea of the video game, you’ll connect with the movie easily.
The movie is based on the popular video game Angry Birds by Rovio Entertainment. The film lays the plot of rivalry between the birds and pigs when crew of pig arrive in the island of birds. All the birds welcome them, except the outcast Red, who seems something fishy in the overly affectionate nature of the pigs. He tries to stop them with his friends, Blue and Bomb. The massive success of the film, led to the sequel Angry Birds 2, released in 2019 to mixed reviews and performance.
It is an action horror film, the first many installment of the Resident Evil series films made on the video games of the same name. Most of the element of this film were based on the video games – resident evil and resident evil 2. Alice and a band of commandoes try to stop the outbreak of a deadly virus at a secret underground lab. With 5 sequels, the Resident Evil film series has the record for the most number of most live-action film adaptations of a video game.
It is an action adventure film based on the Tomb Raider video game. The game features the character Lara Croft, it is a significant video game character in pop culture. It holds six Guinness world records, has a fan following and is the first video game character to have a movie made on it. In the film Angelina Jolie plays the character. In the film the adventurere Lara Croft is on a mission to catch hold of an artefact that controls time before it lands in the wrong hands.
10. Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back
It is a Japanese anime fantasy adventure film released in 1998. It is based on Pokémon video games. In the film, we see that scientific experiments have led to creation of a disruptive clone of Mewtwo. He wants to destroy the world, Ash and his friends must intervene in time to save the world from Mewtwo’s wrath.
One of the best things about movies that are based on video games is that they are complete eco-systems in action. It’s like you enter a fictional universe and fight battles, that somehow help you survive the real life. And when such eco-systems come out live on screen they are bound to keep us hooked.