Video game adaptations continue to be somewhat of a golden goose for studios, with series and movies alike based on popular gaming IPs cropping up at an exponential rate thanks to the success of recent productions like The Last Of Us and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Despite a long history of some great hit video game adaptations, there’s also been some major failures – but that’s clearly not stopping studios from going ham on announcing new projects such as The Legend of Zelda movie, with a whole host of upcoming shows and movie releases in the works.
While it’s likely quite a number of announced video game adaptations may never see the light of day (development hell, anyone?), there’s still a bunch that are either confirmed or likely to release in 2024 across cinemas and streaming platforms. We’ve rounded up all the video game adaptations coming in 2024 so you can get hyped for your next binge-watch or favourite movie coming this year.
Video game adaptations releasing in 2024
Halo Season 2 (February 8, 2024)
Halo season two premiered on February 8, 2024, first teased by Paramount Plus in early December. The new season follows Master Chief going up against the alien threat of the Covenant as he tries to prove their impending attack on Reach – which Halo fans might remember as the human military nexus that fell before the first game.
Verdict: OK. David had his problems with it. Alyssa on the U.S. team quite liked it.
Fallout (April 12, 2024)
The highly-anticipated Fallout series, a video game adaptation by Amazon Prime, premiered in April 2024. The show is co-created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (the screenwriter behind the 2018 Tomb Raider movie and Captain Marvel) and Graham Wagner (Portlandia & Silicon Valley). Set in an alternate post-apocalyptic Los Angeles after a nuclear fallout, the series features actors Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks), and Walton Goggins (Justified). The show follows Lucy (Purnell), one of many Vault Dwellers who survived the nuclear war in an underground bunker, as she ventures into the wastelands of L.A in an original story that’s said to be canon to Fallout’s extensive lore.
Verdict: Really good! Both David and Emily were big fans of the Fallout adaptation. You can read our review here.
Knuckles (April 26, 2024)
Paramount Plus’ next video game adaptation is Knuckles, a TV series spin off of the popular Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Idris Elba once again plays the warrior echidna in a series set to bridge the gap between the second and third movies (which is due out this year and appears further down this list). Though the old blue blur himself appears in the show, he is not the focus. Rather, Knuckes follows our big red hero on an adventure to teach his new human bestie (Adam Pally) about the ways of the warrior echidna.
Borderlands (August 9, 2024)
After being in some sort of development hell with absolute radio silence (and plenty of rumours of trouble in paradise), the Borderlands movie adaptation looks to finally be emerging from the shadows in August 2024. The film is directed and co-written by horror legend Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel). The science fiction action comedy (that’s a lot of genre descriptors) stars Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Bobby Lee in a stacked lineup. The story follows Lilith returning to Pandora to find Atlas’ missing daughter alongside a ragtag team including Tiny Tina, Claptrap, Krieg, and Tannis.
Arcane Season 2 (November 2024)
Arcane season one blew onto the scene in November 2021 and was almost immediately renewed for a second season as well as becoming the first video game adaptation to win both Annie Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards. The animated League of Legends adaptation follows the story of sisters Vi and Jinx amongst the backdrop of rising tensions between the utopian city of Piltover and the slum-like underbelly of Zaun. There’s currently not much information about exactly what the second season will involve story-wise, with Netflix releasing a short teaser trailer during Geeked Week to announce a November 2024 release window.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (December 20, 2024)
After a bumpy reception to the trailer of the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie (cursed Sonic continues to haunt my dreams) and then a quick correction based on audience reactions, Sonic the Hedgehog found major box office success, spawning a sequel and now a third film coming in December 2024. The video game adaptation will star James Marsden, Ben Schwartz, Tika Sumpter, and Idris Elba reprising their roles, with production featuring the actors teased in late November after delays due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. A miniseries based on Knuckles the Echidna, simply titled Knuckles, is also scheduled to premiere on Paramount Plus in 2024.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep (late 2024)
While The Witcher Netflix cinematic universe is of course based on the book series, given how closely intertwined the fandom and story is with the iconic games, it gets a look-in on this list of upcoming video game adaptations. Revealed during Netflix Geeked Week, The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is a spinoff animated film featuring Geralt of Rivia and voiced by The Witcher 3 voice actor, Doug Cockle. Hired to investigate a series of attacks on a seaside village, gravelly-voiced Geralt (god it was good to hear that familiar voice in the trailer) finds himself “drawn into a centuries-old conflict between humans and merpeople” in a tale based on author Andrzej Sapkowski’s short story, A Little Sacrifice. While there’s no confirmed release date, Netflix is teasing a late 2024 release.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (2024)
Another Netflix video game adaptation, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft is an upcoming animated series by Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics set to drop in 2024. Hayley Atwell (you might recognise her as Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger and Agent Carter) will voice Lara Croft, with the story taking place in the same universe as the Survivor trilogy reboot of the game series – with the show set to jump in after the events of Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018). This anime-style series doesn’t have a confirmed release window just yet, but is set to premiere on Netflix in 2024.
Devil May Cry (2024)
Capcom’s action-adventure franchise is getting the Netflix anime treatment, with Castlevania showrunner and executive producer Adi Shankar again taking the reigns. Studio Mir, the team behind the animation of The Legend of Korra, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, and Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts are working on the animated series, as well. The first-look teaser dropped in September 2023, with a 2024 release (although no specific date) confirmed in November during Netflix Geeked Week.
Return to Silent Hill (2024, speculative)
Return to Silent Hill is a psychological horror movie directed by Christophe Gans (director of the 2006 Silent Hill film), and is set to star Jeremy Irvine and Hannah Emily Anderson. This video game adaptation is based on Konami’s Silent Hill 2 and follows the story of James as he returns to the town of Silent Hill after receiving a letter from his lost soulmate – only to find everything has changed and reality has shifted. While there’s no confirmed release date or window as of yet, filming wrapped in July 2023 and most rumours point to an early 2024 release.
There’s plenty more video game adaptations in the works currently, with most being just a twinkle in the director’s eye at this stage (or still in early development and production). It’s likely that as 2024 continues, we’ll see more adaptations get release dates and likely a deluge of premieres this year– but these are the big names that are currently set to release in the next twelve months.
Which video game adaptation are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments.
Lead Image Credit: Netflix / Amazon / Riot Games / Fortiche / Kotaku Australia
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