This week, PlayStation announced PlayStation Productions, a film sector of the gaming giant. This will allow them to bring their massive IP into other mediums such as film and TV without licensing it out to other film studios.
The idea is that PlayStation’s signature seal of quality for games will now carry over into films that they are developing in-house. Many video games have been adapted into films and the overwhelming majority of them have failed miserably as they’re not made with the correct creative mindset.
With PlayStation leading the charge themselves, we could get some really incredible films and shows based on games like Uncharted, God of War, and many more. While the studio is already developing some projects, they have not announced any specific films or shows quite yet.
With that said, we have some ideas for some great movies and shows using the popular IP in their arsenal. As opposed to just directly adapting games, we thought it would be more interesting to come up with ideas for stories surrounding established universes so it’s fresh and interesting.
#5. God Of War – Kratos’ journey from Greek to Norse mythology
God of War was one of 2018’s biggest titles for PlayStation and that’s in part due to the massive reimagining of the series. Tone, setting, gameplay, and the character of Kratos were reworked to give the series new life but we as players largely have no idea what happened between God of War 3 and God of War (2018).
After Olympus was destroyed, Kratos wandered off to find a new home somewhere in Scandinavia. One can imagine with Kratos’ nature, he didn’t just quietly make a new home for himself. There was probably some ruckus involving beasts we may or not have already seen, we can see him trying to really transition into a new man, and we could even get a love story showing how he met his new wife.
This could work both as a film or a live-action mini-series consisting of five or six hour-long episodes. Bring God of War director Cory Barlog on as a writer or producer, cast Christopher Judge as the live-action Kratos as well, get a solid director and BAM, you got cinematic magic!
We have no idea how long it’s going to take to get the fifth mainline God of War game so this could help quench the thirst of fans for a bit while Sony Santa Monica cooks up the next game.
#4. Spider-Man – Animated shorts
Spider-Man is already an icon on the big and small screen, he’s got fans in all mediums but Marvel’s Spider-Man game really resonated the most last year. Yuri Lowenthal and Insomniac’s interpretation of the character was praised up and down for finding the heart and soul of the beloved hero and making one of the best Spider-Man stories ever told.
So, similarly to the God of War story, let’s help ease the wait for a sequel with some animated shorts. Live action shorts would be probably impossible given Tom Holland is the current Spider-Man and we’d lose Yuri Lowenthal as the wall-crawler, so the animated route allows them to keep the current cast.
These shorts could be 15 – 20 minutes long and give us small little adventures that otherwise wouldn’t be seen in a Spider-Man movie or game. This could include an encounter with a B or C-tier villain, typical Peter Parker/Spider-Man shinanigans like that mission in the game where Peter gets evicted and has to go find his stuff in a dumpster, and more.
They could even use it to build up to the sequel with a prologue similar to the tie-in book released for the game last year. There are endless possibilities for Marvel’s most famed character in these animated shorts!
#3. Infamous – A standalone film or series
PlayStation has sort of let the Infamous IP simmer since the release of Second Son in 2014. Sucker Punch has been busy with Ghost of Tsushima so they’re likely not making a new one at the moment, that’s not to say it can’t return in the future but at the moment it appears to be on hiatus.
So why not capitalize on the popularity of the superhero genre while also putting a unique spin on it? Infamous is ripe for a series or film potential and you can either adapt one of the games or create an entirely new story for that universe. Sony could play with the morality systems of the games by giving us a bit of an anti-hero, feature exciting powers, and if they created a new story, they could bring in the likes of Cole MacGrath as a surprise cameo.
Given that Infamous isn’t a series focused on huge, insane spectacle, you could make it on a relatively smaller budget and allow the restrictions of that to dictate the creativity of the story. It worked for Deadpool, it could work for Infamous.
#2. The Last of Us – An anthology series
In 2013, PlayStation debuted a new IP from Naughty Dog called The Last of Us and it quickly became one of the most acclaimed titles ever made.
The Last of Us has a very rich world and while we only know the stories of Joel and Ellie so far, The Last of Us Part 2 will expand on that world. We’ve already caught a small glimpse at some other female characters who we’ll see in the sequel but Naughty Dog is still remaining tight-lipped on how much we’re going to see beyond Ellie’s story.
With a series based on The Last of Us, we can explore how other parts of the world are dealing with the outbreak. We can see how it all started, what the world was like shortly after the epidemic became serious and cities began to fall, stories decades after the events of the first game, stories of characters who encountered Ellie and Joel, and so much more.
Think of an episode focused solely on Bill, an episode for Sam and Henry, new characters, other states or even countries. The list goes on and on but by not limiting themselves to just one core cast of characters, you can tell very meaty stories that help flesh out the world in incredibly significant ways and give more background knowledge for other characters.
#1. A Hideo Kojima Production
Hideo Kojima is a lover of cinema, you can see this both on social media and in his games. He loves telling cinematic stories in games, casting big-name actors, and much more, so… why not give him the chance to direct a movie if he wants it? Kojima and PlayStation are already very close partners, he’s a true visionary, he could make something wildly new and unique that the traditional movie studio may not want to finance.
Not only would he get to stretch his creative legs even more but could also be a great PR move. There are numerous celebrities who know of or respect the Japanese game developer, this could attract them to come work with him and create a lot of major buzz for whatever he creates.
This could come in the way of something related to Death Stranding or something totally new and unrelated to a game depending on how open PlayStation would be to the idea.
What would you like to see from PlayStation Productions? Let us know in the comments below.
