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Comment RSSProducer John Davis Discusses ‘The Sims’ Movie
22.09.08 # 22:32 # News # 6 Comments
Has a video game ever been adapted into a good movie? You could probably rack your brain for hours and not come up with any examples where this is the case (not counting adaptations that turned out to be so bad they were funny such as Super Mario Bros. or BloodRayne). I would assume that a good movie has never come from a video game because video game storylines are generally just there to take the player from one piece of gameplay to another and are very rarely deep or interesting enough to sustain a movie’s 90 minute running time.
Now, there are a couple of schools of thought as to how you can make a good movie from a video game: option one is that you pick a game with a long and in-depth story that you can adapt without changing much (upcoming Bioshock and Mass Effect adaptations will presumably fall into this category). Your second option is to take a video game with minimal storyline, use the name to get video game fans to put down the controller and take a trip to the theatre but you make up your own storyline specifically tailored to the movie format. According to a recent interview with producer John Davis, this second strategy is the direction that will be taken with the upcoming ‘Sims’ movie.
Tom Rothman, the Chairman of Fox said to me, “How are you going to take this incredible piece of IP and make it into a movie?” Right? Because most games aren’t movies, so this is the way I did it: The Sims, as you know, you can control your imaginary world, right? And our movie, a young man, a 16 year old kid of a 14 year old kid and his friend get their hands on this thing called the Sims Infinity Pack, right, which kind of this very strange video game store which was there just for that moment, and seemingly wasn’t all that. But what they realize is that they can scan their world in, because this is the most life like, real Sims game ever. And as they are playing this they are all of a sudden realizing is what they are playing on the game is having an effect on the real world. So in effect, through the game, they are able to control their world. It’s wish fulfillment, and obviously it turns against them.
When I first heard about the ‘Sims’ movie adaptation I scoffed at the idea. Since the game has literally no story, I couldn’t envision how they might translate it to the screen, I assumed they were just trying to cash in on the name of one of the most successful games of all time. However, having read the brief description, I have hope that they might be able to pull off an 80s style technology/adventure film in the vein of WarGames or Weird Science. I’m definitely now interested to see how this one turns out.
Source: Collider
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This is definitely a good way of translating a very tricky idea. Could be fun.
Actually, no, it couldn’t be fun. It’s an insult to Sims 2 players everywhere. First place, the game is played by more females than males…and the majority of the females are adult females. From what I’m reading, the producer has no clue as to the type of audience he’d be dealing with, much less the gameplay. I bet he’s never bothered to get in front of a computer with The Sims 2 loaded on it. (Here’s a clue, Mr. Davis…NOBODY plays The Sims anymore. We’re all laying the sequel, The Sims 2).
Let me put it this way…I’d have more fun getting on the internet and watching the countless movies made by the *fans* of the game on YouTube and other websites that specialiaze in Sims machinima, etc. than wasting my money on a piece of trash that is designed to appeal to 14-16 year old boys…most of whom think the game is lame. At least the fan-made movies have more talent and a lot better plotlines.
I take your point Maria but I think you’re jumping to conclusions. I think it will be very possible to cover all bases with this movie, just because it stars teenage boys doesn’t mean that it will appeal exclusively to that age range, for example I enjoyed Juno last year and I’m about as far from a pregnant teenage girl as you can get.
Juno is a movie about teen pregnancy. It’s not based on a game, but on real life. So, of course, anyone can enjoy it.
The difference is that The Sims movie is based on a game, but the producer has no clue about the game itself, since he’s never played it. I *am* a Sims 2 player. The proposed plotline not only bears no resemblence to the game *I* play, but it also is derivative of Wierd Science, by the producer’s own admission. So it’s not going to want to make me waste my time and money to go see it. He’s basically just putting up any old plotline, slapping a little computer animation on it, and thinking it will sell because it has The Sims label on it.
But he hasn’t counted on the pickiness of the Sims players. Many have already declared it trash and don’t want any part of it. He really should check out The Sims 2 forums so he can get a clue.
How would you rather see the big screen version done?
Well, for starters, if Mr. Davis wants to get an idea of how to make a movie using The Sims 2, he might want to look at Sims99.com. (You can google the site). Sims fans have been making movies using the game since it started.
What I’d like to see, and what most Sims fans would like to see, is something that actually uses the pre-made characters and storylines in the movie…for example, there is a storyline revolving around the dissapearance of Bella Goth, who was kidnapped by aliens in one neighborhood, and turns up as a character with no memories of her past in another neighborhood. It could be a combination of animation and real-live action, but it should be something that at least gives a nod and some recognition to the fans of the game, and actually uses the current technology available.
The proposed plotline, unfortunately, comes nowhere near that, and so I think the movie will probably not do very well in theaters. As I said before, it’s not one I plan to see.