In the past few years, there have been a rise in live-action adaptations of video games and animated media such as “The Last of Us,” “Uncharted” and “The Little Mermaid.”
Long Beach resident Jesus Espinoza sees these live-action adaptations as an opportunity to make something great but understands how that hasn’t always been the case.
“I honestly don’t mind how video games or animation shows get turned into live-action. Although historically, there’s been bad adaptations,” Espinoza said.
The “Sonic the Hedgehog” video game got a live-action movie adaptation in 2020 and was received well. It has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes audience rating but has a low 64% from critics.
“So far, I’ve been enjoying these live-action remakes of video games because it introduces these video games to a whole new audience,” said Arturo Vega, a senior English major.
The development of “The Last of Us” video game into a tv show expanded its fan base to include those who hadn’t played the game.
After the release of the show, the sales for “The Last of Us Part 1” jumped 238% in sales on the PlayStation store.
Animated adaptations of shows into live-action movies such as “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” going from a tv show to a movie were not received well by audiences.
“I guess a bad adaptation of an animated show would be The Last Airbender movie from ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ show,” Espinoza said.
“Avatar: The Last Airbender”’s original animated run has a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes as opposed to its live-action movie which has a 30% audience score.
“I find it pretty cool as you get a whole different perspective and insight from the characters and the tone of the movie just feels different in live-action compared to animated,” said Jasmine Villa, a senior child development major.
With box office results like a total of 405.5 million worldwide for “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” or a worldwide total of 1.6 billion for the “Lion King” live-action remake, it’s likely that live-action adaptations will continue for the foreseeable future.