TheFalloutfranchise has solidified itself as one of the most successful video game series in history. With that being said, it’s no surprise Hollywood wants to try and capitalize of that success. AFallouttelevision series is set to be released later in 2023 on Amazon Prime. They’ve assembled a great cast featuring actors like Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, and Kyle MacLachlan. The series is being developed by Jonathon Nolan and Lisa Joy as well.
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Video game adaptations have had a poor track record throughout history. Only a very small few have seen success on the big screen or on television. With shows likeThe Last of Uscoming out soon,Falloutcan take a look at it and other video game adaptations for inspiration. Fans are hoping that the producers can learn from previous mistakes and helpFalloutbreak the video game curse.
5Cast The Right Actors
While some of the cast members have been announced already, it’s unclear who these actors will be playing. If they are playing characters that have been featured in the games, they should make an effort to make sure they can accurately capture those characters. In the past, some video game adaptations have cast big stars as iconic characters from a game, even if they bare no similarities.
An example isMark Wahlberg playing Sully in theUnchartedmovie. While Mark Wahlberg is a huge star and great actor, he’s not the right age as Sully and bares no resemblance to him whatsoever. They already cast some big actors like Walton Goggins and Kyle MacLachlan, but hopefully, they were cast because they were the right fit for the character and not just because they are famous.Falloutneeds to make sure they focus on casting the right actor for the job rather than just going for star power.
4Listen To The Fans
When adapting something that has a large fanbase, some producers tend to think they know best and ignore what the fans are telling them. While it’s important to try and make something new and different, it’s also important to listen to the people who know the source material best. An example of not listening to the fans is Netflix’The Witcherseries.
While the creators stated many times it’s not based on the games and that they’re adapting the books, it probably would have been better received if it listened to some of the games' fans and incorporated a few things that make those games so popular.Fallouthas a huge fanbasethat’s ready to tell the creators how they can make their show better.
3Make New Characters Interesting
Sometimes video game adaptations like to start completely fresh and create a new character to be the protagonist. While this is a strange choice that rarely works, it’s possible to make it good if the new character is interesting.
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Both theMortal Kombatmovie and theAssassin’s Creedmovie chose to create a new character to be the film’s protagonist, and they were met with poor reception. Both of these new characters were dull, unimaginative, and underdeveloped. It’s probably best to stick to the characters that have already been created for the games, butFalloutshould attempt to write compellingly if they decide to make some new ones.
2Stay In The Same Genre
Falloutis a post-apocalyptic survival gamefilled with strange characters, compelling dialogue, and a hint of retro-futurism. Hopefully, the television series will stay within this genre and not stray too far into others.
TheResident Evilfilm franchise has seen monetary success over the years but is basically a completely different genre than the games. They took a slow-paced survival horror game and turned it into a post-apocalyptic action franchise.Falloutshould make sure they don’t dive too deeply into the action genre and keep the pace and tone the games have had for years.Falloutis also known for its unique sense of humor, which needs to be present in the show too.
1Stay As Faithful To The Source As Possible
A lot of video game adaptations have failed because they are too loosely adapted from the source material. TheMax Paynemovie andSuper Mario Brothersmovie are two examples of films that are so different from the games that fans absolutely hated them. Not only should theFalloutseries keep the same genre as the games, but they should ensure fan-favorite characters and storylines from the games also make an appearance.
The creators have already stated thatthe story will be an originaland not directly adapted from any of the games. This is a bit of a red flag, but it’s still possible to make it work if they include other things from the games.IconicFalloutcharacters such asthe Master, Mr. House, Harold, and Caesar should all at least have a mention in the story if they want to draw in fans. If they can manage to tell a brand-new story while showing love to the source material, theFallouttelevision series is sure to be a hit.
