The Best Video Game TV and Movie Adaptations
The subgenre can get a bad rap, but these films and series are must-watches.
Even more than book-to-movie adaptations, video game adaptations have long been contentious. Not only are there extremely enthusiastic fan bases who want to see a similar experience that draws directly from the source material, but bringing their expansive, fantastical worlds to the silver and small screen can be a challenge. Plus, viewers unfamiliar with the games must stay engaged by a captivating story.
With all that said, some of our best recent movies and must-watch TV series have pulled from video games—both faithful renderings and loose adaptations. Over the past several decades, the subgenre has evolved impressively into some of the most thrilling from action, horror, sci-fi, and animated entertainment. Whether you're a gamer or not, many video game adaptations are worth watching, so, below, are the best movie and TV video game adaptations of all time.
'Arcane' (2021– )
Set in the League of Legends universe, Arcane is steampunk gorgeousness that reminds some viewers of Game of Thrones. Fans of the game loved it—and non-fans who like good, animated television also tuned in, which is a key sign of success.
'Castlevania' (2017–2021)
This "dark fantasy" anime-inspired television series is a modernized vampire story. It's built a story and its characters over seasons, and it's driven by an intense and urgent storyline (which is a must for adaptations). The follow-up series, Castlevania: Nocturne, is also great.
'The Cuphead Show!' (2017–2022)
Don't be fooled by the vintage style: This is about a cup-headed character and his brother who make a deal with the Devil. The series adaptation is light on plot but amazing to look at, with the kind of surrealism that makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.
'Cyberpunk: Edgerunners' (2022)
The Cyberpunk 2077 role-playing game led to the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners animated series. It's in the same universe but a prequel, and is considered one of those rare miracles where the adaptation elevates the source material and makes it even richer and deeper.
'Doom' (2005)
Doom centers around a first-person shooter space marine who fights various monsters (the first installment in the franchise debuted in 1993). Doom the 2005 movie was a box office bomb, and critics hated it, but it's got some gamer supporters. It's an early attempt at a video game adaptation; it just had some kinks to work out.
'Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves' (2023)
Like some items on this list, the Dungeons & Dragons adaptation was a pleasant surprise. In the role-playing franchise (which technically originated as a tabletop game), there's a lot of potential in gameplay and character development—so casting Chris Pine, among others, was smart.
'Fallout' (2024– )
The Fallout video game has one of the most intriguing post-apocalyptic premises ever. Set in post-nuclear fallout, the surviving humans now exist in a wasteland alongside former human "ghouls" who have been mutilated by radiation. After fans had been calling for an adaptation for a long time, the 2024 series starring Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins delivered.
'Five Nights at Freddy's' (2023)
Five Nights at Freddy's has historically convoluted lore, but the gist is that you're trying to survive the night at a pizza restaurant filled with murder-y animatronics. Critics didn't love the movie—it's a lot of story to deal with—but fans of the game really dug it.
'Gangs of London' (2020– )
Video games with open-world concepts, where a player can interact with an entire simulated environment, can make great adaptations. A fascinating (and highly gory) look at rival gangs, the British series Gangs of London has been highly praised for its gritty tone and plot.
'Gran Turismo' (2023)
Gran Turismo is a racing simulation game where you "drive" various vehicles. Gran Turismo the movie is a story about a teenager (Archie Madekwe) who plays the simulation game well enough to become an actual race car driver (and is, very loosely, based on true events).
'Halo' (2022–2024)
If you're unfamiliar with the Paramount+ Halo series starring Pablo Schreiber, you missed out on an overlooked series (the show was canceled after two seasons in 2024 but was critically lauded). It evolved from the first-person shooter source material, which may have been why some fans weren't as engaged.
'Hitman' (2007)
Technically there are two film versions of the Hitman video game: this, and the 2015 film Hitman: Agent 47. The latter is less praised than this version, which makes a solid attempt at interpreting the convoluted story. Timothy Olyphant plays Agent 47, an engineered assassin, and he gives his 110 percent.
'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' (2001)
Several video game adaptations are panned at the time of their release and then reclaimed by later audiences (and proved by the box office to be appealing to audiences). Such is the case with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, which finds Angelina Jolie as the tomb raider in question with a pretty good quest to drive the plot forward.
'The Last of Us' (2023– )
It's hard to think of a bigger video game adaptation success than The Last of Us, which was a "crossover hit" in the biggest sense of the word. Fans of the game were riveted, but people who had never heard of the zombie franchise were also drawn in by the plot following a survivor of the apocalypse (Pedro Pascal) tasked with transporting a teenager (Bella Ramsey) across the wasteland of the U.S. Thanks to the leads' performances and the show's atmosphere, it's become appointment viewing TV and garnered recognition at the Emmys.
'Mortal Kombat' (1995)
This 1995 Paul W. S. Anderson movie takes inspiration from Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II. If you're unfamiliar, it sees martial artists participating in the titular fighting event to protect Earth—and it is over-the-top campiness. Fans of the game loved, and continue to love it.
'Mortal Kombat' (2021)
The 2021 film reboot of the video game franchise (and successor to two original, quite campy movies) took itself more seriously and thus left critics a little cold. But it did well and is quite a dynamic martial arts film—despite distancing itself a bit from the source material.
'Need for Speed' (2014)
Based on the racing game franchise, the 2014 Need for Speed movie was compared unfavorably to the Fast & the Furious movies. It's since been recognized as an underrated adaptation going for a little more depth while still giving you all the car chases you expect.
'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' (2019)
This loose adaptation of the video game of the same name was the first live-action Pokémon movie. What's incredible about this movie is how much critics loved it—which can be rare for an adaptation—and audiences followed suit, making this a big audience hit. But, seriously, with animation this stunning, who wouldn't love these life-like renderings of pokémon?
'Pokémon: The First Movie' (1999)
The animated version of Pokémon has been intensely successful, spanning over 25 years of new television series and several movies. It's probably one of, if not the most, successful aggregation of video games to on-screen content, and one of the first anime series popular in Western media.
'Rampage' (2018)
This 2018 monster movie starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and an animated gorilla is loosely based on the game of the same name. Technically, in the video game, you play as a human who's been transformed into a giant monster, and the movie was dinged for being slightly less fun than that.
'Resident Evil' (2002)
There have been so many Resident Evil movies that it's easy to lose track of them. The quality has varied quite a bit (although, Resident Evil: Apocalypse is quite good), but the biopunk premise of the first movie—an evil corporation accidentally causes the outbreak of a virus that turns people into zombies—is compelling enough to propel the story forward through its stranger elements.
'Silent Hill' (2006)
If you like your video games to be scary, you probably already know about Silent Hill. But if you like horror movies (and even if you've never come across the game), seek out this underrated '00s movie that wasn't well-understood when it was released but is now reclaimed as eerie and riveting.
'Sonic the Hedgehog' (2020)
You can firmly put this film in the "delightful surprise" category. Many are familiar with Sonic the Hedgehog, but few people expected the little blue guy to make for such a fun movie character. The movie did gangbusters at the box office.
'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' (2022)
It should come as no surprise that after the success of the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie, a sequel was greenlit and came out in 2022. It sent a bunch of box office records and was similarly praised for its sense of humor—if criticized for being a little on the long side.
'Street Fighter' (1994)
Street Fighter is widely acknowledged to be so-bad-it's-hilarious kind of movie; it was an adaptation of the Street Fighter II fighting game that kids growing up in the '90s are probably familiar with. The movie is not really faithful to the source material, let's say.
'Super Mario Bros.' (1993)
The 1993 "adaptation" of the Super Mario video game is somewhat of a hilarious mess that doesn't have many of the game's elements. Instead, it delves into Mario and Luigi's origin story and features various creature effects. Some fans have reclaimed it, and it's still a foretelling of the future popularity of video game adaptations.
'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' (2023)
This 2023 movie was a major success at the box office—surpassing Frozen to become the second highest-grossing animated film of all time—which makes sense, given the ubiquity and longevity of the Mario franchise. Because it's animated, it was faithful to the game in the look and feel. Critics called the plot flimsy, but kids loved it.
'Tomb Raider' (2018)
The rebooted Lara Croft movie took itself somewhat more "seriously" than the three Angelina Jolie films. Alicia Vikander took on the lead role, which drew mixed responses; the grittier, more realistic set pieces also made some reviewers long for the original. But others liked the new vibe, and the film performed well.
'Twisted Metal' (2023– )
The "vehicular combat" video games made for an intriguing television series starring Anthony Mackie. He plays "John Doe," a delivery driver with amnesia tasked with delivering a package across the post-apocalyptic United States, which goes about as well as it sounds.
'Uncharted' (2022)
This historical fiction treasure-hunting franchise sounds like Lara Croft for the modern generation. The reality is a little more complex; critics thought it was a little lacking in the plot department, but fans of the games came through and made it a box office smash.
'Warcraft' (2016)
This is considered a relatively faithful adaptation of Warcraft—which was to its detriment since there was a lot of lore (and the characters therein) to flesh out. Critics didn't care for the script either, but it was a box office hit and is considered by some to be underrated.
'Werewolves Within' (2021)
If you missed this 2021 film, seek it out. The original game is a "social deduction" premise, where you guess who the hidden werewolf is. That inspired this Clue-like buddy comedy premise, and the premise lends itself well to an ensemble movie, which features a hilarious cast led by Cheyenne Jackson and Sam Richardson.
