The unapologetically simple yet addictive mobile game, Temple Run, is coming to theaters near you. Soon.
In a recent report from the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros is currently negotiating with Temple Run developer Imangi Studios to bring the Temple Run franchise to the big screen. It’s going to be serious business, as David Heyman, the producer of the eight Harry Potter films will be producing this new video game-to-movie adaptation.
While Warner Bros. is currently looking for a writer (we’re looking for writers too!), it is revealed that the movie adaptation of Temple Run will follow the mobile game’s general plot, wherein an explorer (the guy who keeps on running) steals an idol from a temple, and then chased by the temple dwellers everywhere he goes.
It would be cool if it was just an actor running for 90 minutes, oh, and getting coins.
Yes, that is the plot of the mobile game: running and more running. Now imagine it in a movie. Ridiculous?enablejsapi=1&html5=1& Apparently, the director doesnt believe so, so there will be sequels to the first movie, should it be showing in the cinemas.
Thankfully, the plot abandonment is what really sells in the casual gaming market. Temple Run is successful for Imangi Studios, the game’s developer and publisher. It was so well received that on top of the sequell, another spinoff game was released.
If Temple Run’s movie adaptation is confirmed, it will not be the first video game series to receive the Hollywood makeover. Various video game series had already experienced the Hollywood treatment. Arguably the most popular example will be the Resident Evil movie franchise, where its films have collectively generated $915 million in the box office charts.
Other than the Resident Evil movies, most of the other video game to movie adaptations have seen moderate success. The horrible Super Mario Bros. film was so horrible Nintendo even tries to forget its existence.
What separates Temple Run from the examples above is that it is a mobile game. As noted by the Verge, movie adaptations of mobile games rarely happened. Other than Temple Run, Angry Birds will also be coming to your nearest theaters in 2016.
If Temple Run does come to the cinemas, would you watch them?
So, I guess spoiler: you die?
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