Lionsgate studio has yet to premiere the last installment of The Hunger Games franchise but it is already planning for its next potential giant. After announcing that 'Borderlands' videogame movie will be their next adaptation, the studio is planning to make this a tentpole, big enough to be its next successful franchise.
According to Variety, Lionsgate plans to make Borderlands join their list of mega successful franchises, the most recent one being The Hunger Games. While waiting for the release of the final installment Mockingjay: Part 2, the franchise has already earned $2.3 billion at the worldwide box office.
The Summit label under Lionsgate has the Twilight Saga's five film franchise which earned $3.3 billion, and $550 million from two out of four films in the Divergent Series
It is no surprise the studio turned to producers equally adept with franchises. According to Movies, Lionsgate scouted Avi Arad and Arad, both producers of all the Spiderman movies. As of the moment, no directors or writers "officially attached at this point".
It is expected they will involve scribes or filmmakers that have proven track records in adaptations and/or franchises. There is a slight pressure to get this right, as movies adapted from videogames have not found their blockbuster fame in Hollywood.
Turning successful games into successful films is not exactly the easiest thing to achieve. According to Movie News Guide, to date, Assassin's Creed is "most high profile game to film conversion."From what has been release the film and its actor, the talented Michael Fassbender, will give moviegoers a run for their money and "is likely to win a lot of accolades".
While we have yet to see Asssassin's Creed box office performance, Lionsgate should hope to generate the same, if not more, amount of interest and excitement over the Borderlands film. Borderlands earns a 17+ Mature rating, but not just because of violence alone. It has a "dark and vulgar humor." Although it may lose a bit of the young demographic, it can use this to the way Deadpool is using its humor and rating to turn into a hit.
With Lionsgate's track record of handling big franchises, there is big hope for 'Borderlands' to become the as epic as it is in the videogames. While they have not announced how many films they are planning for this, if the initial movie is done right, 'Borderlands' will be their next big treasure trove after Hunger Games.
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