Forget Mario 2, Jack Black wants a Red Dead movie
There are some great video game adaptations, and there are some awful ones. While the Milla Jovovich-led Resident Evil movies weren't winning any Oscars, we'd rather rewatch them over Welcome to Racoon City. Sony's Uncharted movie was perfectly fine, but it's nothing compared to HBO's The Last of Us.
Out of all the big wins, none have come close to the record-breaking success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Illumination's animated adventure restored the IP's tattered reputation following 1993's Super Mario Bros., and thankfully, has given faith to the idea that video game adaptations can break that fabled curse.
Jack Black wants a Red Dead movie
Click to enlargeThe success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the Sonic movies, and the surprise hit of Five Nights at Freddy's have us questioning what comes next. Upcoming live-action adaptations have everything from God of War to Fallout, Ghost of Tsushima to Mass Effect in the pipeline in movie and TV form, but there are still some glaring omissions.
We've previously covered the reluctance to power forward with a Call of Duty movie, and alongside this, there are repeated calls to adapt two of Rockstar Games' legacy franchises. Seriously, where are our GTA and Red Dead Redemption movies? Now, Jack Black is back to bang his Red Dead drum.
Having played Boswer in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Claptrap in Eli Roth's Borderlands, Black has got candid with GamesRadar about the lack of Red Dead adaptations. "I can't believe they haven't already started making a movie of any of the Rockstar Games," says Black.
He mentions GTA but especially highlights Red Dead. "Those things are already like movies, you know?" continued Black. "I guess that's the thing. Some video games are already halfway there to telling those kind of stories, and there are some movies that are like video games."
Seriously, where's our Red Dead movie?
Click to enlargeBlack has his own idea for where a Red Dead adaption could go, taking a leaf out of Black Mirror's book: "Did you ever see that Black Mirror motion picture called 'Bandersnatch' where you actually choose your own adventure at the end of scenes?"
"It's like, 'Ooh, do you take the red pill or the blue pill?' I think we're moving in that way where there's going to be more combinations of video games and movies, and it's exciting. It's like the beginning of a new era." This would be hard to pull off in a movie, but it lends itself to an interactive series.
Personally, we think Red Dead would work best as a sprawling TV series in the vein of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy's Westworld and Fallout adaptations. You only have to look at the legacy of HBO's Deadwood to see what a Red Dead series could be like. Also, imagine the A-list cast you could get with a HBO series.
Much like those swirling rumours of Red Dead Redemption 3, there's nothing official about plans for a Red Dead movie. Still, with Black repeatedly explaining his love for the cowboy caper, you'd be foolish not to sign him up for the role of Uncle if the situation arose.
