Video game movies don't have the best track record in Hollywood. While there have been a few that have performed decently over the years, be it critically or commercially, overall there have been more misses than hits with these kind of adaptations. That's led to the idea of there being a "video game curse," but Rampage director Brad Peyton is hoping to avoid succumbing to said curse with his cinematic adaptation of the monster-filled video game series. As he sees it, the main reason many video game movies have failed is because they were supposed to deliver the same kind of stories told in the original video games, leaving little room for taking creative liberties. As Peyton explained:
When you attempt to adapt something that has an incredibly deep plotline or character or something along those lines, you're beholden to delivering something. And it's really a difficult challenge because as a gamer, I know, I play as the hero. That's an immersive medium, and so, it's really hard to go up against something that pre-exists.
Brad Peyton also mentioned that he didn't even know what the "video game curse" was until two weeks after finishing Rampage, but he acknowledges that there's a lot of pressure to deliver on "spectacle" in the movie. Fortunately for the director, Rampage didn't require closely adapting an intricate storyline, as has been the case for features like Assassin's Creed and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. The most important part of making a Rampage movie is having three giant creatures wreaking havoc, and once those core elements were identified, Peyton was able to construct a larger story.
Later in his interview with IGN, Brad Peyton noted that his ultimate goal for Rampage is to remind audiences that monster movies are supposed to be fun, even though the monsters themselves need to be scary. Through balancing this kind of action with the classic features of the Rampage games, perhaps he'll not ensure that the Rampage movie doesn't feel "repetitious to what already exists," but also succeed where many other video game movies have failed.
The Rampage movie stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as primatologist Davis Okoye, who looks after an albino silverback gorilla named George. When George, a crocodile named Lizzie and a wolf named Ralph mutate to enormous sizes due to a mysterious genetic experiment, it will be up to Davis and his allies to stop these monsters and revert them back to normal. The main cast also includes Naomi Harris as Dr. kate Caldwell, Malin Akerman as Claire Wyden (the main antagonist), Jeffrey Dean Morgan As Agent Russell and Joe Manganiello as Burke.
Rampage... well, rampages into theaters on April 20, and don't forget to browse through our 2018 release schedule to find out what other movies are coming out this year.
