Sony Launches PlayStation Productions to Adapt Games for Film and TV
https://youtu.be/JiK_NDIrkyQ
Sony Interactive Entertainment has launched a new unit called the PlayStation Productions with the goal of exploring its extensive catalog of games to see which franchises could be candidates to adapt for film and TV adaptations. Sony has got no shortage of games to pick from, and it looks like some properties have apparently already been chosen since the unit is already working on producing its first set of projects, a new report suggests.
About the PlayStation Productions Unit
The unit will be headed by Asas Qizilbash, the vice president of marketing for exclusive games at the PlayStation, and will be overseen by SIE chairman of Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden, The Hollywood Reporter said. Layden told the outlet that “now is a good time to look at other media opportunities” in areas such as streaming, film, and TV to expand Sony’s properties to other mediums. Production of these project will be handled by PlayStation Productions with the sister company Sony Studios assisting with the distribution which means that these projects won’t be licensed out to another companies.
“Instead of licensing our IP out to studios, we felt the better approach was for us to develop and produce it for ourselves,” Qizilbash told The Hollywood Reporter. “One, because we’re more familiar, but also because we know what the PlayStation community loves.”
Qizilbash added that SIE spoke to both Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Kevin Feige to get a better understanding of the industry, and Layden said Marvel’s vast collection of movies was part of the inspiration for PlayStation Productions.
Following footsteps of the Marvel
We looked at what Marvel has done in taking the world of comic books and making it into the biggest thing in the film world,” says Layden. “It would be a lofty goal to say we’re following in their footsteps, but certainly we’re taking inspiration from that.”
Layden spoke to some degree about the “curse” that plagues video game movies, one that prevents most movies adapted from games from standing out in a very positive way. He said most people involved with those films don’t understand the world of gaming and that it’s not possible to adapt 80 hours of gameplay into a movie. Instead, he recommended people “take that ethos” and write for a film audience.
These projects will serve as new ways for PlayStation fans to “have more touchpoints with franchises”
Specific projects have not yet been announced by Sony, but Qizilbash said the format the games will be adapted to depends on the property. Layden said that these projects will serve as new ways for PlayStation fans to “have more touchpoints with franchises” while they look for other experiences with known characters between games.
It will be very interesting to see which properties are chosen for the big screen, or television. God of War, especially its most recent installment, would at first appear to be best suited for the cinema. But, Game of Thrones has proven that cinematic level stories and dragons can be shown on the smaller screen. Could Crash Bandicoot be turned into an all-ages animated show? If Sony is taking inspiration from Marvel, does that mean we’ll see a universe of characters – perhaps Sly Cooper, Ratchet, and Jak? There are a lot of questions that will be answered as time goes on. We’re not sure what this means for projects already being developed, such as the Tomb Raider sequel, The Last of Us, or the Uncharted movie. Presumably, these movies will continue outside PlayStation Productions, but time will tell.
Source: comicbook, screenrant
