This page is a list of film adaptations of video games. These include local, national, international, direct-to-video and TV releases, and (in certain cases) online releases. They include their scores on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the region in which they were released, approximate budget, their approximate box office revenue (for theatrical releases), distributor of the film, and the publisher of the original game at the time the film was made (this means that publishers may change between two adaptations of the same game or game series, such as ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of fighting game, fighting video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The original ''Mortal Kombat (1992 video game), Mortal Kombat'' arcade game spawned Lis ...

''). Also included are short films, cutscene films (made up of cutscenes and cinematics from the actual games), documentaries with video games as their subjects and films in which video games play a large part (such as ''

Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...

'' or ''

WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American techno-thriller film directed by John Badham, written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes, and starring Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood and Ally Sheedy. Broderick plays David Lightman, a ...

'').

Theatrical releases

By original language of the release.

English

Live-action

= Upcoming

Animated

= Upcoming

Japanese

Live-action

Anime

Mandarin/Cantonese

Live-action

Animated

Television films

Released

Upcoming

Direct-to-video

Live-action

Animation

Short films

Listed below are original short films produced, commissioned or licensed from a game publisher.

Documentaries on video games

Theatrical releases

Television

Other releases

Films with plots centered on video games

* ''

'' (1982) – Directed by

Steven Lisberger Steven M. Lisberger (born April 24, 1951) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing the 1982 film ''Tron''. Early life and education Lisberger was born in 1951 in New York City and gre ...

. Kevin Flynn, an

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

designer, gets sucked into the video game world he created and has to fight his way back to the real world. * ''

Nightmares A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations o ...

'' (1983) – Directed by

Joseph Sargent Joseph Sargent (born Giuseppe Danielle Sorgente; July 22, 1925 – December 22, 2014) was an American film director. He is best known for his feature-length works, like the action movie '' White Lightning'' starring Burt Reynolds, the biopi ...

. The segment "Bishop of Battle" stars

Emilio Estevez Emilio Estevez (; born May 12, 1962) is an American actor and filmmaker. The son of actor Martin Sheen and the older brother of Charlie Sheen, he made his film debut with an uncredited role in '' Badlands'' (1973). He later received his first ...

as a video game wizard who breaks into the arcade at night to get to the 13th level, in doing so he becomes part of the game. * ''

'' (1983) – Directed by

John Badham John MacDonald Badham (born August 25, 1939) is an American film and television director, best known for directing the films ''Saturday Night Fever'' (1977), ''Dracula (1979 film), Dracula'' (1979), ''Blue Thunder'' (1983), ''WarGames'' (1983), ...

. Computer hacker breaks into military intelligence computer to play games, which almost starts a thermonuclear war. * ''

Joysticks A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

'' (1983) – Directed by

Greydon Clark Greydon Clark (born February 7, 1943) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. His career spans several decades and genres, although the majority of his work has been low-budget productions in the action/horror genres. His mo ...

. When a top local businessman and his two bumbling nephews try to shut down the town's only video arcade, arcade employees and patrons fight back. * '' Cloak & Dagger'' (1984) – Directed by Richard Franklin. A young boy has secret plans given to him in the form of a video game cartridge, which he must protect from spies. * ''

The Last Starfighter ''The Last Starfighter'' is a 1984 American space opera film directed by Nick Castle. The film tells the story of Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), a teenager who, after winning the high score in an arcade game that's secretly a simulation test, is rec ...

'' (1984) – Directed by

Nick Castle Nicholas Castle (born September 21, 1947 in Kingsport, Tennessee) is an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is known for playing Michael Myers (Halloween), Michael Myers in John Carpenter's horror film ''Halloween (1978 film), H ...

. A boy, who is very good at a video game in his trailer park, finds himself recruited to be a pilot for an alien defense force just like the game he plays. * '' The Dungeonmaster'' (1985) – Directed by

Charles Band Charles Robert Band (born December 27, 1951) is an American film producer and director, known for his work on horror comedy movies. Career Band entered film production in the 1970s with Charles Band Productions. Dissatisfied with distributo ...

Ted Nicolaou Ted Nicolaou is an American film director, screenwriter and editor. His most famous directorial effort is the ''Subspecies (film series), Subspecies'' film series. Apart from his feature film projects, he also works in television. After gradua ...

. A computer whiz is drawn into a series of realistic simulations by a demonic wizard who considers him a worthy adversary. Armed with his wrist-mounted X-CaliBR8 computer, he must solve the puzzles and rescue his girlfriend. * '' Hollywood Zap!'' (1986) – Directed by David Cohen. A bored clerk decides to quit his job and travel to Hollywood, California to fulfill his dreams and to find his missing father. He chooses a hustler as his traveling companion, but both of them experience disillusionment during their quest. * '' Kung Fu Master'' (1988) – Directed by

Agnès Varda Agnès Varda (; born Arlette Varda; 30 May 1928 – 29 March 2019) was a Belgian-born French film director, screenwriter and photographer. Varda's work employed location shooting in an era when the limitations of sound technology made it easier ...

. A love story between a 40-year-old woman (

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin ( ; 14 December 1946 – 16 July 2023) was a British and French actress, singer, and designer. She had a prolific career as an actress, mostly in French cinema. A native of London, Birkin began her career as an actress, ...

) and a 15-year-old boy addicted to the arcade game '' Kung-Fu Master''. * '' The Wizard'' (1989) – Directed by Todd Holland. A boy with mental problems decides to run away to compete in a video game contest and his brother helps him hitchhike to the tournament. Features numerous NES video games, primarily '' Super Mario Bros. 3'' before its American release. * '' The Lawnmower Man'' (1992) – Directed by

Brett Leonard Brett Leonard (born May 14, 1959) is an American film director, producer and music video Music video director, director specializing in the science fiction and Horror (genre), horror genres. A few of his films such as ''The Lawnmower Man (film ...

. A mentally handicapped man is turned into a genius through the application of computer science and

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

. * ''

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

'' (1993) – Directed by

Albert Pyun Albert Pyun (May 19, 1953 – November 26, 2022) was an American film director who made low-budget B-movies and direct-to-video action films. The Independent Film Channel said that Pyun "has carved out a unique niche as a director of low-budge ...

. A teenager has to battle inside of a deadly virtual reality video game, in order to save her friends. * '' Brainscan'' (1994) – Directed by John Flynn. A teenager is sent a mysterious computer game that uses hypnosis to make the game the most horrifying experience imaginable. He stops playing, only to find evidence that the murders depicted in the game actually happened. * ''

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

'' (1997) – Directed by

Gabriele Salvatores Gabriele Salvatores (born 30 July 1950) is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directe ...

. A computer game designer finds that his latest video game has a virus which has given consciousness to the main character of the game, Solo. * '' eXistenZ'' (1999) – Directed by

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

. A game designer finds herself targeted by assassins while playing a virtual reality game of her own creation. * '' How to Make a Monster'' (2001) – Directed by George Huang. An evil video game comes to life and hunts the group of developers. * ''

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

'' (2001) – Directed by

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including ''Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), '' ...

Science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

film centered on a war-themed, virtual reality MMO under the same title. * ''

Game Over "Game over" is a message in video games which informs the player that their play session has ended, usually because the player has reached a loss condition. It also sometimes appears at the successful completion of a session, especially in ga ...

'' (2003) – Directed by Jason Bourque. Uses footage from five different

Digital Pictures Digital Pictures was an American video game developer founded in 1991 by Lode Coen, Mark Klein, Ken Melville, Anne Flaut-Reed, Kevin Welsh and Tom Zito. The company originated from an attempt to produce a game for the cancelled VHS-based NEMO ...

games. * '' Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over'' (2003) – Directed by

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

. Carmen Cortez is caught in a virtual reality game designed by their new nemesis, the Toymaker. Juni, her little brother, goes into the game to save her as well as beta players and the world. * '' GameBox 1.0'' (2004) – Directed by David Hillenbrand & Scott Hillenbrand. A video game tester must fight to escape from a video game that has become all too real. * '' Satan's Little Helper'' (2004) – Directed by

Jeff Lieberman Jeff Lieberman (born October 16, 1947) is an American film director and screenwriter, known for his cult film, cult horror film, horror and thriller films ''Squirm'' (1976), ''Blue Sunshine (film), Blue Sunshine'' (1977) and ''Just Before Dawn ...

. A nine-year old gamer mistakes a costumed killer for a video game version of the Devil. * '' Devour'' (2005) – Directed by David Winkler. A college student is under the demonic influence of an online game. * '' Hellraiser: Hellworld'' (2005) - Directed by Rick Bota. Features a MMORPG based on the

Hellraiser ''Hellraiser'' is a 1987 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Clive Barker in his directorial debut. Based on Barker's 1986 novella ''The Hellbound Heart'', the film's plot concerns a mystical puzzle box that summons the ...

mythology. * '' Grandma's Boy'' (2006) – Directed by Nicholaus Goossen. A 35-year-old game tester develops a game in secret only to have someone at work try to steal it. * '' Stay Alive'' (2006) – Directed by

William Brent Bell William Brent Bell (born September 17, 1970) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for his work on horror films such as ''Stay Alive'' (2006), ''The Devil Inside (film), The Devil Inside'' (2012), ''Wer (film), We ...

. Friends start dying just like they did in a video game they all played. * ''

Ben X ''Ben X'' is a 2007 Belgian-Dutch psychological thriller film based on the novel '' Nothing Was All He Said (Dutch: Niets Was Alles Wat Hij Zei)'' by the film's director Nic Balthazar. It stars Greg Timmermans as a teenager with Asperger syndro ...

'' (2007) – Directed by

Nic Balthazar Nic Balthazar (born 24 July 1964 in Ghent) is a Belgian film director and a TV/radio personality (presenter, reporter, producer). Family Balthasar was born into a Ghent family of politicians active in the Socialistische Partij Anders. He is th ...

. The main character Ben is an autistic boy obsessed with an

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

called '' ArchLord''. He plays the game to escape being bullied and has one online friend named Scarlite. He considers suicide until he meets Scarlite in person. * '' Press Start'' (2007) – Directed by Ed Glaser. Average suburban youth Zack Nimbus is recruited by an ill-tempered ninja and a tough-as-nails space soldier to save the world from a tyrannical, but comically insecure, sorcerer. References to many classic video games. * '' WarGames: The Dead Code'' (2008) – Directed by

Stuart Gillard Stuart Thomas Gillard (born April 28, 1950) is a Canadian film director, writer, producer, actor and television director. He is best known for directing the films '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (1993) and '' RocketMan'' (1997). He also w ...

. Is a sequel to ''WarGames''. * ''

Gamer A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...

'' (2009) – Directed by Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor. A man has to save humanity from being enslaved by an MMO. * '' Assault Girls'' (2009) – Directed by

. Three girls in an MMO team up to win a boss battle. * '' Scott Pilgrim vs. the World'' (2010) – Directed by

Edgar Wright Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical Film genre, genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zo ...

. Is an action comedy film rife with video game references and plot

conceit An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact be ...

similar to

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

s. * '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010) – Directed by

Joseph Kosinski Joseph Kosinski (born May 3, 1974) is an American film director. He directed the films ''Tron: Legacy'' (2010), ''Oblivion (2013 film), Oblivion'' (2013), ''Only the Brave (2017 film), Only the Brave'' (2017), ''Top Gun: Maverick'' (2022), ''Sp ...

. Kevin Flynn's son Sam finds his missing father in a new version of the virtual game world and has a similar journey as his father did fighting to get back to reality. * '' Black Heaven'' (2010) – Directed by Gilles Marchand. An innocent young man becomes enamored with a mysterious girl. He is lured into "Black Hole" – a dark, obscure video game world of avatars with deadly serious intentions in the real world. * '' RPG Metanoia'' (2010) – Directed by Luis C. Suárez. Is a Philippine animated

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

in which a

called Metanoia gets infected by a virus which affects the online world, and a young player goes on a journey to save the online world and prevent it from taking over the offline world. * '' Best Player'' (2011) – Directed by Richard Amberg. Is a comedy film about two gamers. * '' Ra.One'' (2011) – Directed by Anubhav Amant. Is an Indian

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...

, where a

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

creates an unstoppable villain for his son which becomes all too real. * '' .hack//The Movie'' (2012) – Directed by

Hiroshi Matsuyama , born in November 23, 1970 in Fukuoka, is a Japanese game designer. He is the CEO of the company CyberConnect2. He developed multiple games including the '' .hack'' franchise as well as adaptations of the anime series including ''Naruto'' and ''D ...

. Is a Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

film based on '' .hack'', a franchise of anime, video games,

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

that debuted in 2002, about a virtual reality MMORPG. * ''

Wreck-It Ralph ''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...

'' (2012) – Directed by

Rich Moore Rich Moore (born ) is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He is best known for serving as a director on primetime animated television series such as ''The Simpsons'', ''The Critic'' and ''Futuram ...

. An

villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

who dreams of being a hero decides to leave his game in order to become one. Features cameos by multiple licensed video game characters like

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

, Ryu &

Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...

. * '' Noobz'' (2012) – Directed by Blake Freeman. A motley crew of gamers participate in a video game competition. * '' Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie'' (2014) – Directed by James Rolfe and Kevin Finn. This film is based on the web series of the same name, it tells us about the Nerd's long journey to discover the secrets of the cartridges buried in the desert of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...

, considered the worst videogame of all time. * ''

Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sma ...

'' (2015) – Directed by Chris Columbus. When aliens misinterpret video-feeds of

Arcade video game An arcade video game is an arcade game that takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. All arcade video games are coin-oper ...

s and

console game A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can typically be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connec ...

s as a declaration of war, they attack the Earth, using the games as models for their various assaults to fight aliens such as

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...

and

. * ''

Beta Test The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

'' (2016) – Directed by Nicholas Gyeney. A gamer discovers that events in a new video game are being mirrored in the real world, and joins forces with the game's protagonist to unravel the conspiracy. * '' The Warriors Gate'' (2016) – Directed by Matthias Hoene. An avid game is transported to a parallel dimension. * '' Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale'' (2017) – Directed by Tomohiko Itō. Is a Japanese anime film based on ''

Sword Art Online is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by abec. The series takes place in the 2020s and focuses on protagonists Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya and Asuna Yuuki as they play through various virtual re ...

'', a novel, manga and anime franchise that debuted in 2002, about a virtual reality MMO, with ''Ordinal Scale'' being about an

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...

MMO. * '' Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'' (2017) – Directed by

Jake Kasdan Jacob Kasdan (born October 28, 1974) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is best known for directing ''Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'' (2007), ''Bad Teacher'' (2011), ''Sex Tape (film), Sex Tape'' (2014), ''Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle'' (2 ...

. Teenagers find a vintage video game version of ''

Jumanji ''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain, based on the 1981 children's picture book by Chris Van Allsburg. The film is the first ins ...

'' and get sucked into its jungle setting. * ''eHero'' (2018) – Directed by Joseph Procopio. An up-and-coming video gamer and his team must overcome a fiery gaming superstar, as well as their own battling egos, to win the ultimate video game championship. * ''Good Game: The Beginning'' (2018) – Directed by

Umut Aral Umut Aral (born 26 June 1976) is a Turkish film director, producer, and screenwriter best known for the Netflix Original The Protector., Love 101, Who Were We Running From? and his feature debut on esports 'Good Game: The Beginning'. Early l ...

. An underdog

Esports Esports (), short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, played individually or as teams. ...

team that competes in a ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...

'' tournament * '' Ready Player One'' (2018) – Directed by

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

. Based on the 2011 novel of the same name, it is set in a

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

n future and is about the search for an

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

in a virtual reality game called ''Oasis''. * ''

Ralph Breaks the Internet ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' is a 2018 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is the sequel to the 2012 film ''Wreck-It Ralph''. The film was directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Joh ...

'' (2018) – Directed by Rich Moore & Phil Johnston. Sequel to ''Wreck-It Ralph'', and part of the ''

'' franchise. * '' Serenity'' (2019) – Directed by

Steven Knight Steven Knight (born 5 August 1959) is a British screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Closed Circuit (2013 film), Closed Circuit'', ''Dirty Pretty Things (film), Dirty Pretty Thi ...

. Midway through the film, it is revealed that the story is occurring inside a virtual world. * ''The King's Avatar: For the Glory'' (2019) – Directed by Zhiwei Deng & Juansheng Shi. Animated film based on the Chinese web novel of the same name. * '' Jumanji: The Next Level'' (2019) – Directed by Jake Kasdan. Sequel to ''Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle''. * '' Fearless'' (2020) – Directed by

Cory Edwards Cory Edwards (born August 21, 1968) is an American film director, screenwriter, and stand-up comedian. He is best known for directing, co-writing, and voice acting in ''Hoodwinked!, Hoodwinked'' (2005), and for co-writing and voice acting in t ...

. Two high school seniors try to return three babies to the video game they came from after they mysteriously arrive on Earth. * '' Boss Level'' (2021) – Directed by

Joe Carnahan Joseph Aaron Carnahan (born May 9, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor whose films include '' Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane''; '' Narc''; '' Smokin' Aces''; ''The A-Team''; '' The Grey''; and '' Boss Level''. He ...

. A retired soldier is trapped in a never-ending

time loop The time loop or temporal loop is a plot device in fiction whereby Character (arts), characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition. Time loops are co ...

that repeatedly results in his death. It adapts video game tropes in film format. * ''

Free Guy ''Free Guy'' is a 2021 American action comedy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudk ...

'' (2021) – Directed by

Shawn Levy Shawn Adam Levy (; born July 23, 1968) is a Canadian and American filmmaker and actor. He is the founder of 21 Laps Entertainment. His work has spanned numerous genres, and his films as a director have grossed a collective $3.5 billion worldwid ...

. Guy, a

non-player character A non-player character (NPC) is a character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster (or referee) rather than by a ...

, becomes aware of his world being a video game called Free City. * '' 8-Bit Christmas'' (2021) – Directed by

Michael Dowse Michael Dowse (born April 19, 1973) is a Canadian director. Life and career Born in London, Ontario, to Irish parents, he was trained as a film editor. His first full-length movie, ''FUBAR'' was shot on a digital camera with a tiny budget, but w ...

. A father recounts his quest to get a

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

in the 1980s. * '' Choose or Die'' (2022) – Directed by Toby Meakins. As people play the text-based video game CURS>R, the game begins to interact with the real world. * '' 1Up'' (2022) – Directed by Kyle Newman. An all-girl team competes in a gaming competition. * '' Fantasy Football'' (2022) – Directed by Anton Cropper. A girl plays '' Madden NFL 23'' to control her Dad in actual NFL games. * ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' () is a puzzle video game created in 1985 by Alexey Pajitnov, a Soviet software engineer. In ''Tetris'', falling tetromino shapes must be neatly sorted into a pile; once a horizontal line of the game board is filled in, it disa ...

'' (2023) – Directed by Jon S. Baird. Biopic movie about the battle led by

Henk Rogers Henk Rogers is a Dutch-born American video game designer and entrepreneur. He is known for producing Japan's first major turn-based role-playing video game '' The Black Onyx'', securing the rights to distribute the Russian puzzle video game ''Tet ...

for the ''

'' rights for its version of Famicom & NES and the upcoming

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

during the Tensions of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the

U.S.S.R. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

in late 80's. * '' Gran Turismo'' (2023) – Directed by

Neill Blomkamp Neill Blomkamp (; born 17 September 1979) is a South African and Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is known as the co-writer and director of the science fiction action film ''District 9'' (2009), for which he was nominated for the Aca ...

. Biopic movie about a '' Gran Turismo'' player whose gaming skills won a series of

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

-sponsored video game competitions to become an actual professional race car driver. * ''Tron: Ares'' (2025) – Directed by Joachim Rønning.

Standalone sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to ''Tron: Legacy''.

Notes

References

External links

Video game adaptation comparison
at

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...

"Top 10 Worst Video Game Movies"
on ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Films Based On Video Games *

Video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

Films A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of Visual arts, visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are gen ...

Theatrical releases

English

Live-action

= Upcoming

Animated

= Upcoming

Japanese

Live-action

Anime

Mandarin/Cantonese

Live-action

Animated

Television films

Released

Upcoming

Direct-to-video

Live-action

Animation

Short films

Documentaries on video games

Theatrical releases

Television

Other releases

Films with plots centered on video games

See also

Notes

References

External links