A revenue report shows that Hollywood is abandoning superhero movies in favor of game adaptations and TV series. In just one year, the revenue of game adaptations has doubled, while almost half of superhero productions have disappeared.
Superhero movies dominated the movie industry in the 2010s. Especially the Marvel Cinematic Universe broke box office records with dozens of productions released in theaters and closed the “DC or Marvel?” debate. After the pandemic, superhero movies suddenly lost their popularity. Especially in the last two years, Hollywood turned its eyes to the gaming industry and we started to see adaptation movies one after another.
According to data shared by the Wall Street Journal, Hollywood is reaping the benefits of adapting video games and characters into movies and TV series. In 2018, when superhero movies were at their peak and Avengers Infinity War was released, the total revenue of superhero movies was 20 times more than game adaptations. In 2023, the difference is down to 1.4 times.
Here’s how the revenue gap between superhero movies and game adaptations changed year on year:
Superhero Movies Game Adaptation Movies
2018 3.3 billion dollars 160 million dollars
2019 2.35 billion dollars 190 million dollars
2020 130 million dollars 150 million dollars
2021 $1.66 billion 60 million dolars
2022 $1.75 billion 340 million
2023 $1.02 billion 710 million
Released last year, The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed over $1.3 billion worldwide. The movie was so popular that it surpassed Marvel’s biggest hits of last year, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This example alone shows how game productions are dominating superhero movies.
Why are game adaptations successful?
Adapting games into movies and TV series is not a simple task. Popular games have millions of fans, and the risk of disappointing them is not small. So what do producers do to ensure quality game adaptations?
Discord channels and Reddit threads of the games are always under surveillance. In addition, scenes referencing the games, surprise eggs just like in the games, and references to the real world make game adaptation movies and TV series as worth following and discovering as much as the games themselves. Of course, this does not mean that all game adaptations are successful. Some adaptations are canceled in their first season or flop in theaters.
