5 Canceled Video Game Movies That Should Have Happened

In the modern world, video game movies have finally become big business and a major priority for film studios. Upcoming video game adaptations like "Helldivers," "The Legend of Zelda," and "Bloodborne" could become box office juggernauts and further solidify this realm's "Mario" and "Minecraft-"informed dominance. However, for so long, video game features were thought of as a cursed proposition doomed to both financial and artistic ruin. That's likely why so many proposed video game movie adaptations of yesteryear ended up going nowhere.

Some of those unrealized video game movies sound dreadful and like they'd have easily become another "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" debacle. Others, though, sound like they were bursting with creative potential. These are the projects that could've been not just decent video game movies, but quality motion pictures in general. Five of these canceled video game movies, in particular, sound especially enticing and like they should've happened a long time ago. These features have a varying assortment of fascinating concepts that grip the imagination. Some sounded like they were the perfect marriage of filmmaker and source material.

Others would've drawn from underrated video game worlds that deserve more love, while some had nebulously defined realms that could've let talented artists run wild. Whatever makes these five unrealized video game movies sound so cool, it's worth lamenting their defunct status. Perhaps these titles could've inspired the video game movie renaissance much sooner.

What we know so far about Netflix's "BioShock" movie adaptation isn't much, but Francis Lawrence is slated to direct the project. The newest incarnation of this project is also meant to be smaller in scale than prior stabs at making a "BioShock" motion picture to fit Netflix's new budgetary restrictions for original films. This outcome is ironic, given that the master of maximalist blockbusters, "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski, was the man in charge of the first major attempt at a "BioShock" film in 2008. Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan, meanwhile, was tasked with penning the script for this motion picture.

In April 2009, word broke that this much-anticipated endeavor wouldn't be happening after all. In the years that followed, it was revealed that distributor and financier Universal Pictures got wary about making a costly "BioShock" adaptation that was rated R. Verbinski got super close to rolling cameras on this production, which would've undoubtedly been a nutty ride. Combining the "BioShock" lore with Verbinski's penchant for stylized insanity could've created a movie that charmed the game's devotees and newcomers alike. Best of all, it would've undoubtedly been unlike anything else in the blockbuster movie marketplace.

Alas, Universal shelved the project and ensured this exciting marriage of filmmaker and video game material could never exist. If the Netflix iteration of "BioShock" ever gets made, there's a chance it'll be an adequate endeavor. However, it'll be impossible not to imagine what Verbinski could've done if he'd gotten his hands on this property.

In 2016, "Warcraft" brought the "World of Warcraft" games to the big screen. Unfortunately, it wasn't exactly a creative home run. The "Warcraft" movie upset some players of its source material, while the film failed to make much money at the box office beyond scoring a mighty (albeit frontloaded) run in China. Translating this online role-playing game into a narrative feature would've always been an immense challenge. Doing so with this particular underwhelming script was an especially dismal result. No wonder "Warcraft" became one of the biggest video game movie box office bombs out there.

Long before anyone saw "Warcraft," though, an early incarnation of the project was supposed to be helmed by Sam Raimi. He stuck with the project for a while, but scheduling conflicts between "Warcraft" and "Oz the Great and Powerful" forced Raimi to focus exclusively on the latter project. That's a shame, given that Raimi could've injected so much badly needed fun into "Warcraft." While the final movie is a slog, Raimi's works are always fleet-footed ventures with a dark sense of humor and plenty of (often squirm-inducing) entertainment. If he brought even a fraction of the fun of "Army of Darkness" or "Spider-Man 2" to "Warcraft," it would've been drastically improved.

Sadly, Raimi logged off the "World of Warcraft" feature, which eventually became the Duncan Jones directorial effort "Warcraft." Perhaps Blizzard Entertainment should approach Raimi about doing a reboot.

In the late 2000s, Blue Sky Studios was riding high. Its then-latest release, "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," had grossed $886.68 million worldwide, including a gargantuan $690.11 million internationally. Eons before Disney shut down this animation studio, the company's leadership gazed ahead at what new project Blue Sky could make in the incoming decade. In late 2009, it looked like one of those projects would be an adaptation of the creature-creator video game "Spore." "Ice Age" helmer Chris Wedge was tackling the production, which never materialized. Wedge instead focused on "Epic," while Blue Sky set its sights on the "Rio" films and further "Ice Age" adventures.

That's a shame, since "Spore" offered plenty of wiggle room to become an entertaining movie. Given that it wasn't centered on pre-established concrete characters or lots of immense lore, the artists behind a "Spore" movie could go hog-wild, following critters as they evolved into various advanced forms. Plus, the possibilities of "Spore's" creature designer function meant this movie could've housed some truly unusual and memorable beings. They certainly would've been a departure from the standard talking animals anchoring so many other Blue Sky features.

Alas, a "Spore" movie went unrealized for reasons that were never made clear to the public. What shame, since this kooky title could've let Blue Sky artists achieve new levels of creativity. At the very least, a "Spore" movie couldn't have been worse than "Ice Age: Continental Drift."

Before George Lucas retired after selling "Star Wars," he and his company Lucasfilm were involved in a wide swath of pop culture properties beyond just the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" universes. That included the exploits of LucasArts, Lucasfilm's video game division. Among the creative endeavors that this outfit released was the "Monkey Island" games, which began in 1990 with "The Secret of Monkey Island." These adventure titles followed pirate Guybrush Threepwood in his high seas exploits, which spanned a bevy of sequels across multiple console generations. Given how Lucasfilm was first and foremost a movie company (it's right there in its name), it was only a matter of time before somebody attempted to make "Monkey Island" into a feature.

The central plan was to keep a proposed CG-animated "Monkey Island" movie in the Lucasfilm family by having its animation done at the studio's visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic. Screenwriter David Carson and a handful of others were tasked with shaping this potential "Monkey Island" movie, though creative difficulties led to it sinking without a trace. But the whole "Monkey Island" universe is such tremendous, swashbuckling fun, and could easily translate to a fun motion picture.

Given the dearth of modern pirate-based cinema, it's a travesty this production hasn't come back to life and landed in theaters. This crown jewel of the LucasArts library could have easily become one of the best pirate movies ever made, thanks to the strength of its source material.

Back in late 2007, the second title in the "Spyro the Dragon" reboot trilogy,"The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night," had just hit store shelves. As this grittier take on Spyro's earliest years debuted, it was revealed that a film adaptation called "Legend of Spyro" was in development. This fully CG-animated feature was going to hail from The Animation Picture Company, which had specialized in direct-to-video "Garfield" movies. However, no further talent ever got attached to the property. The film quietly died out, presumably because the "Legend of Spyro" saga ended with its third game.

Making a motion picture about the "Legend of Spyro" iteration of this purple dragon was always a bad idea. However, a "Spyro the Dragon" movie rooted in the PlayStation games totally should have happened by now. There's tons of enduring nostalgia for the initial "Spyro" universe and its creative collection of vibrant worlds. Taking vivid characters like Spyro, Sparx, and Elora and putting them into a motion picture should be a recipe for a success. Plus, the variety of different worlds explored throughout the "Spyro" games could inspire a movie that's visually versatile.

This unrealized "Legend of Spyro" movie already established a precedent for this gaming icon to exist in Hollywood. While it's for the best that specific project never happened, a proper, classic "Spyro the Dragon" movie should've happened years ago. Who wouldn't want to see Hunter and Spyro's skateboarding competitions on the big screen?