2007 Movie Games April 03, 2007 John JCal Callaham

Introduction

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One big exception to this trend in games is all the movie based games that are released around the same time as their film counterparts. Sometimes the games are direct adaptations of the films, sometimes the games actually expand on the films and sometimes the games have little to no connection to the movies they are supposed to be promoting (witness last year's X-Men: The Official Game from Activision which was actually a prequel to X-Men: The Last Stand). With the summer movie season now within reach, FiringSquad decided to combine our big interests and take a look at both the big summer blockbuster movies and their respective game adaptations.

May 4: Spider-Man 3

Movie Summary: Peter Parker has triple the trouble in this third installment of the Marvel Comics based super hero movie series from Sony/Columbia Studios as he has to deal with Harry Osborne's version of the Green Goblin, the Sandman and (finally) Venom

Game Summary: Developer Treyarch and publisher Activision will release their game adaptation of the movie on the same date as the film's release for current and next-gen consoles as well as the PC. Expect the open world action of Spider-Man 2 to be continued in this new game as it follows the movie's story while also bringing in new elements and villains from the comics

Movie Prospects: Is anyone NOT stoked about seeing Spider-Man 3? If not, you have obviously been in a coma for the past few years. Expect even more Peter Parker anst filled moments, great action sequences, a very mad Thomas Haden Church and (finally) Venom (ok, we still think Topher Grace is a whip but it might work).

Game Prospects: This will likely be the best movie based game of 2007 based on the terrific work Treyarch did on Spider-Man 2. With access to the graphical goodness of the Xbox 360 and PS3 and the controls of the Wii and the promise of an even bigger New York City to explore Spider-Man 3 will likely be a huge hit for Activision.

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May 18: Shrek The Third

Movie Summary: The third CGI movie in this series from Dreamworks will continue the parodies of classic fairy tails. All the voice actors are back as Shrek, now the king of Far Far Away, wants to head back to his beloved swamp by trying to find an heir to his throne

Game Summary: Activision and developer Shaba Games will be adapting the movie to consoles and the PC (Activision has a long history with the Shrek franchise) and will release the game about 10 days before the movie heads to theaters.

Movie Prospects: We aren't as hyped about Shrek The Third as we are about Spider-Man 3 but with all the voice actors back and the prospect of poking fun at pop culture mixed with fairy tales it will likely do very well with the younger crowd.

Game Prospects: Little info on the game itself has been released so far by the publisher Activision. The tie-in to the movie will likely generate a lot of cash for the company based on the sales history of Activision's previous games in the series.

More Games

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Movie Summary: The third and final movie in the Disney action-adventure movie series promises to the the most epic yet, with ship battles, new villains and Captain Jack Sparrow somehow coming back from being swallowed by a sea creature in Dead Man's Chest: Plus, Keith Richards as Jack's dad.

Game Summary: Not much is known about the game except that it will be developed by Eurocom for current and next-gen consoles and the PC. Disney Interactive Studios takes over as publisher of the third installment (Bethesda Softworks published the first two Pirates of the Caribbean games)

Movie Prospects: Movie critics don't seem to care for these films, but the movie audience loves the over-the-top action and humor for the first two games and the third promises to go even further. Plus, we still get to see Johnny Depp perform his best role ever.

Game Prospects: Little info has been released on the game version yet. Since the At World's End game will have a different publisher and different developer than previous games in the series we will hold off on our opinion until more info is released.

June 8: Surf's Up

Movie Summary: Sony Animation's second CGI feature film (the first was Open Season) is taking a different take on the genre as it is being filmed as a "mockumentary" following the life of a surfing penquin.

Game Summary: UbiSoft is developing and publishing a surfing game version of Surf's Up which is planned for release on May 22 for current and next-gen consoles and PC

Movie Prospects: We got to see some early footage of this film at WonderCon and it's new move on making the movie look like it was made as a documentary is certainly refresing. Plus, penquins are still hot.

Game Summary: UbiSoft is making a surfing game based on the film and promises to make it something that both kids and fans of the Tony Hawk titles will enjoy. It has the added bonus of many of the voice actors in the movie contributing to the game.

June 15: Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer

Movie Summary: Twentieth Century Fox releases the sequel to 2005's Marvel Comics based super hero action game as the FF take on the mysterious Silver Surfer (and will Galactus be far behind?) along with their arch enemy Doctor Doom

Game Summary: Developer 7 Studios takes on the FF again (they also adapted the 2005 movie) and 2K Games will be releasing the game for consoles and the PC on June 8, a week before the movie's relese

Movie Prospects: Lots of folks didn't care for the original film but Fantastic Four still made a ton of money. The sequel is certainly headed in the right direction in adapting perhaps the best FF story ever from the original Stan Lee-Jack Kirby run with the first appearance of the Silver Surfer (who at one point was going to get a movie all his own)

Game Prospects: While there's been little info released about the game adaptation, we just don't have a lot of high hopes for it; 7 Studios didn't come up with a great game in 2005 and the fact that Activision decided to give this license up to Take Two/2K Games says a lot about their feelings.

Even more movie games

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Movie Summary: Brad Bird, who directed The Incredibles, returns to Disney-Pixar with his latest CGI feature film about a rat in Paris who wants to become a goumet chef. Yep, it's a bit different.

Game Summary: Developer Heavy Iron Studios and publisher THQ will be making a current, next-gen and PC platform action game based on the movie as they have done with many of Pixar's previous games.

Movie Prospects: If its a Pixar movie, chances are it will be pretty terrific. We got to see some early footage at Wondercon earlier this month and the look and feel of Ratatouille is unlike any other movie released by Pixar with a lot more realistic art elements and the mixing of animal and human interplay.

Game Prospects: Pixar+THQ = money, money and more money and the Ratatouille game should be no different. We got to see an early build of the game at a THQ event earlier this month and while it looks and plays like a typical platform action game it doesn't look like it will be a detriment to the movie.

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July 4: Transformers

Movie Summary: Paramount and Dreamworks bring out Hasbro's mighty robot toys to live action life in this Michael Bay directed action flick.

Movie Summary: The cartoon classic is brought back as the Autobots and Deceptions bring their war (and their transformations) to Earth.

Game Summary: Developer Traveller's Tales and publisher Activision will have a mech action game based on the movie for current, next-gen, and PC game platforms and it should be released around the same time as the movie

Movie Prospects: It's the only movie that might serious challenge Spider-Man 3 as king of the summer box office. The trailers give out little info but what is in there already has us thinking about standing in line in front of the multiplex with the glimpses of the giant robots looking mighty impressive.

Game Prospects: So far Activision has shown only a brief glimpse of the game in action to reporters at February's Toy Fair but the full game promises playable Transformers (both Autobot and Decepticon), destructible environments, and more. We hope it's the Transformers game we have been waiting on since the toys came out.

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July 13: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix

Movie Summary: The fifth novel in J.K. Rowling's fantasy series gets adapted to the screen via Warner Brothers as Harry and the other students at Hogwarts continue to battle against the dark magical forces that keep threatening Harry.

Game Summary: Electronic Arts has announced plans to release a game based on the film as it has for the previous four entries in the series; the game should be released around the same time as the movie.

Movie Prospects: It's the freaking latest Harry Potter movie; like a new Pixar film it's a sure bet that this will bring in the dough and the massive fan base of the books and the four previous films. It won't hurt that the seventh and final Harry Potter novel will also be heading to book stores around the same time.

Game Summary: While EA has backed off on doing a bunch of new movie licenses (the Godfather and Superman Returns games disappointed and they gave the James Bond franchise to Activision) the publisher has had huge successes with previous Harry Potter games. While there's been little info on the game itself it will be the first game in the series for next-gen consoles.

Summer 2007 Movies That Should Be Made Into Games But Won't

28 Weeks Later -- We love zombie movies; we love zombie games. Ok so the infected in this May 11 movie and its previous entry 28 Days Later aren't dead (mearly very, very angry) but we think the setting of London under attack from the creatures would make for a good movie. Indeed a game based on 28 Days Later was promoted to publishers by the movie's producers but none wanted to take it on. How odd.

Live Free Or Die Hard -- Bruce Willis comes back as supercop John Mcclain in the fourth film in the action movie series on June 29. There have certainly been Die Hard games released before but it looks like there's no interest from game publishers in revising the game for a new audience. It's a shame; we were hoping for some good one-liners from Mcclain while we played the game adaptation.

The Bourne Ultimatum -- Vivendi Games has the rights to both the movie and books in the spy series but it looks like the August 4 release of the Matt Damon starring movie won't have a game adaptation. We could definately see some cool combat moves and driving action in any game translation.

Rush Hour 3 -- Ok, we are just kidding about this one.