1 00:00:01,866 --> 00:00:04,600 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Video games are a huge booming business raking in nearly $100 2 00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:09,400 billion a year in the U.S. alone. But turning those video games into 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:13,733 successful movies and TV shows, that has been a bit of a bust until now. 4 00:00:13,733 --> 00:00:18,733 HBO series, The Last of Us based on a video game of the same name was a runaway hit this year with 5 00:00:20,733 --> 00:00:25,400 both audiences and critics. And the New Super Mario Brothers movie based on the long running 6 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:31,200 Nintendo franchise is set to gross $368 million in its first five days. So what has changed? 7 00:00:34,266 --> 00:00:38,733 Jeff Keeley is a longtime gaming reporter and creator and host of 8 00:00:38,733 --> 00:00:43,333 the wildly popular the Game Awards. Geoff Keighley, thanks so much for being here. 9 00:00:43,333 --> 00:00:47,366 How do you explain this transition? Because I think it's safe to admit 10 00:00:47,366 --> 00:00:52,333 that most adaptations of video games into the visual arts has not been all 11 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,666 that smooth or successful so far. Why do you think that this is changing now? 12 00:00:57,666 --> 00:01:01,800 GEOFF KEIGHLEY, CEO, The Game Awards: Yes, you're absolutely right. People refer to it as sort of 13 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:06,700 the curse that existed with, you know, many, many video game franchises over the years just 14 00:01:06,700 --> 00:01:10,133 haven't been successful movies. I mean, there was Prince of Persia with Jake Gyllenhaal, 15 00:01:10,133 --> 00:01:13,200 there was Assassin's Creed with Michael Fassbender. Even way back in the day, 16 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:18,200 there was a Super Mario Brothers movie starring the late Bob Hoskins and none of them worked, 17 00:01:19,633 --> 00:01:21,833 in part because I think they weren't authentic to the game. 18 00:01:21,833 --> 00:01:26,100 What we're seeing now is that the game creators are getting involved with Hollywood, they're 19 00:01:26,100 --> 00:01:30,466 helping writing and directing and creating these worlds, which I think creates an authenticity 20 00:01:31,866 --> 00:01:33,833 for the game fans, but also creates a very rich, 21 00:01:33,833 --> 00:01:36,900 detailed world for folks that may not even have played the games. 22 00:01:36,900 --> 00:01:41,900 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Do you think it is also because Hollywood producers are always desperate for good 23 00:01:43,733 --> 00:01:48,433 compelling stories and a successful video game franchise in some ways proves that 24 00:01:51,033 --> 00:01:53,933 point that this draws people in this storyline is compelling, and thus it might make the transition. 25 00:01:55,433 --> 00:01:58,633 GEOFF KEIGHLEY: Right, I think that was the old view is that, 26 00:01:58,633 --> 00:02:03,233 hey, this game was incredibly popular. So it has a built in fan base of you know, 27 00:02:03,233 --> 00:02:06,766 X million people have played the game. For a long time, it was sort of like it was a 28 00:02:06,766 --> 00:02:10,500 licensed slap that Hollywood producers were doing because they saw the successful games. 29 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:13,133 And then ultimately, they didn't really work out because they weren't great movies. 30 00:02:13,133 --> 00:02:18,100 I mean, there was one I think, the game Doom, Dwayne Johnson starred in and it was really 31 00:02:18,100 --> 00:02:21,533 just an action movie with Dwayne Johnson, that happened to be called him because they 32 00:02:21,533 --> 00:02:25,066 thought that would bring more people into theaters. And I think now we are really in 33 00:02:25,066 --> 00:02:30,066 this renaissance of video game adaptations. I think in the next three or four years, 34 00:02:31,700 --> 00:02:34,266 I think video games are going to be as popular as superhero franchises. 35 00:02:34,266 --> 00:02:38,433 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Really? That's wow, that's an incredible prediction. I mean, The Last of Us, 36 00:02:38,433 --> 00:02:43,433 in particular, seemingly achieved a ton of success with an audience like myself, who had no idea it 37 00:02:45,966 --> 00:02:50,600 was even connected to a game. And, again, I think that speaks to, I wonder if you think the same, 38 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,033 that this speaks to just very strong characters, a very compelling story, and thus, it's a natural. 39 00:02:58,033 --> 00:03:02,233 GEOFF KEIGHLEY: Yes, I mean, The Last of Us was really special. It's an incredibly detailed, 40 00:03:04,300 --> 00:03:08,100 rich story that came out over a decade ago as a video game won a ton of awards then, and I credit 41 00:03:10,666 --> 00:03:13,200 Craig Mazin, the creator of the last of a series alongside Neil Druckmann, the creator of the game, 42 00:03:15,233 --> 00:03:18,700 they teamed up together, Craig did Chernobyl at HBO. And HBO was kind of looking for the 43 00:03:18,700 --> 00:03:23,500 next show from him. He was a big fan of the last episode -- Last of Us and said, I want to figure 44 00:03:23,500 --> 00:03:27,700 out how to adapt this in authentic way to HBO, and actually partnering with the game creator. 45 00:03:27,700 --> 00:03:32,700 But there are scenes in that show that are direct dialogue lifts from the video games. 46 00:03:34,166 --> 00:03:36,200 So their moments. And you know, if you haven't played the game, 47 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,533 you might not know that but it's like the moment with the draft or other things like 48 00:03:39,533 --> 00:03:44,100 that. Those are like iconic seminal moments in the video game they really captured in the show, 49 00:03:44,100 --> 00:03:47,633 but they also built it to your point in a way that appeals to many people that 50 00:03:47,633 --> 00:03:50,566 have never played the video game, because it's a great story at the end of the day. 51 00:03:50,566 --> 00:03:53,900 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I mean, on the flip side of that, then how do you explain 52 00:03:53,900 --> 00:03:57,933 the success of Super Mario Brothers because that unlike The Last of Us, 53 00:03:57,933 --> 00:04:02,900 doesn't necessarily have such obvious human characters. Doesn't have an obvious built 54 00:04:04,900 --> 00:04:08,900 in plotline. There's no offense to this to the brothers. But how do you explain that success? 55 00:04:11,433 --> 00:04:15,033 GEOFF KEIGHLEY: I think that's, you know, very different. Nintendo really for the first time ever 56 00:04:15,033 --> 00:04:20,033 partnered with Illumination, Chris Meledandri, who had done even done a Despicable Me the minion 57 00:04:20,033 --> 00:04:25,033 movies. And Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario actually worked with them to build up this world. 58 00:04:27,066 --> 00:04:29,133 So what I think is so great about that movie, is that it's it looks so beautiful, 59 00:04:29,133 --> 00:04:32,733 and it's so rich. And you know, for anyone that's played a Super Mario Brothers game, 60 00:04:32,733 --> 00:04:37,066 at some point in their life, you probably have everyone has just the fact that this 61 00:04:37,066 --> 00:04:41,933 is on the big screen as a movie and animated movie. I think it's just incredibly novel. 62 00:04:41,933 --> 00:04:46,533 It's just -- it's a fun movie. It's got, you know, a great voice cast, and it just looks beautiful. 63 00:04:46,533 --> 00:04:50,800 So I think that's the thing is, it really looks like the video games, which is incredibly special. 64 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:55,800 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: We're talking here about video games moving into movies and television shows. 65 00:04:58,066 --> 00:05:02,333 Do you think that the reverse can happen as well that people might watch The Last 66 00:05:02,333 --> 00:05:07,333 of Us and then be like, wow, this this -- the origin story for this exists on a video game, 67 00:05:08,766 --> 00:05:10,833 I might want to go there. Any sign that that is happening to? 68 00:05:10,833 --> 00:05:15,633 GEOFF KEIGHLEY: Yes, there have been, you know, huge success stories in that regard over the 69 00:05:15,633 --> 00:05:20,266 past few years. The first game that really did that was a game called The Witcher which 70 00:05:20,266 --> 00:05:24,466 was a Netflix series. And that holiday season, when the first season of The Witcher came out, 71 00:05:24,466 --> 00:05:28,966 the video game sold millions of copies and the game had been out for four or five years. 72 00:05:28,966 --> 00:05:33,600 And this year with The Last of Us that's been at the top of the sales charts on Amazon for a 73 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,133 game that, you know, was came out 10 years ago because people are rediscovering it. So that's 74 00:05:37,133 --> 00:05:40,200 part of the benefit to the game companies is that when these adaptations are done 75 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,800 well it actually drives more awareness and sales of the you know, the original game. 76 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,400 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And lastly, is there any particular game that you're wondering why 77 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,800 Hollywood hasn't grabbed it yet that you want to see on the big screen? 78 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,233 GEOFF KEIGHLEY: Yes, there are a bunch though. What I'm really excited about is 79 00:05:54,233 --> 00:05:58,366 a game called Bioshock. And that's just another like The Last of Us has a really 80 00:05:58,366 --> 00:06:00,933 amazing intellectual story with incredible characters. 81 00:06:00,933 --> 00:06:05,933 So yes, pretty much everything that is, is a good video game story is up for adaptation now. 82 00:06:07,966 --> 00:06:10,600 I think in many ways, you know, like anything, there's probably going to be too many of these 83 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:13,300 things made and not all of them are going to work but I definitely think the curse 84 00:06:13,300 --> 00:06:16,900 is broken. And the fact that, you know, this year, the biggest movie of the year and the 85 00:06:16,900 --> 00:06:20,933 biggest stories of the year so far are both based on video games is pretty incredible. 86 00:06:20,933 --> 00:06:24,266 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Geoff Keighley so good to see you. Thanks so much for being here. 87 00:06:24,266 --> 00:06:25,666 GEOFF KEIGHLEY: Thanks for inviting me on.