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Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

We continue to list the games that we think have the potential to be turned into brilliant TV series and here's what Måns thinks...

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We're back with some more games that should be adapted into TV series, but you can read the first article here!

Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

Grand Theft Auto

This is low-hanging fruit and something fans have wanted to see for years. A movie about Grand Theft Auto and in particular the fifth game in the series would be an incredibly popular adaptation, but what if you were to dream even bigger and create an entire TV series from start to finish? A mammoth project of course, but what a masterpiece it would be and what a cast list you could line up. Michael Mann produces and Martin Scorsese directs. Rough guys who have been there before and made gangster stuff and heist movies with gusto. Tarantino guest stars in the Trevor episodes, where things have to get really out of hand.

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For casting you could have Walton Goggins as Trevor, as psychotic and brilliantly insane as Boyd Crowder in Justified. Pedro Pascal could be our Michael. Pascal is hot now and might as well can bring that star power to the series. They're not exactly alike, but neither were Joel and Pascal. No, he would be great as the middle-aged guy with questionable morals and colorful shirts and then Michael B. Jordan could star as Franklin. The kid with the big heart, who wants to break the law but doesn't like to see anyone get hurt.

Beyond GTA V, we could also see an adaptation of Tommy Vercetti from Vice City. Here I imagine Robert Pattinson. Tall and stately, charismatic, deadpan and dry, just like Vercetti. Niko Belic is indeed already based on Vladimir Mashkov's character in Behind Enemy Lines from 2001, but if the truth be told, it is dedicated to Jason Statham. It's a role he calls in every day of the week. Claude in the third game is a bit more difficult to cast, it is after all a pixilated gentleman from the past but Rami Malek wouldn't be cat piss.

Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

Bioshock

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There's already a movie on the way, but I honestly didn't have high expectations for Francis Lawrence's Netflix adaptation. No, instead I would have liked to see a mini-series here, from Craig Mazin. The creator of Chernobyl and The Last of Us knows how to make a grand and shocking story dark and emotional. In his hands, 8-10 episodes could have been something extraordinary, an experience we wouldn't soon forget. And since Mazin will soon also be involved in an incident with a golf club, I mean why not do another one?

Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

Detroit Become Human

David Cage's vision of the future is perfect for a TV series. Well, actually, it's Ray Kurzweil's vision as the game is mostly based on the novel, The Singularity Is Near, but regardless, I say that in the right hands, there is every possibility for greatness here. An emotional neo-noir thriller with plenty of story twists and turns that visually could be turned into a veritable wet dream by some creative master, someone like Denis Villeneuve. It's not that far removed from Dune, Arrival and Blade Runner after all. Taron Egerton as Connor, Jennifer Lawrence as Kara. Jesse Williams, who is the voice of Markus, is after all a reasonably accomplished actor, with almost 300 episodes of Grey's Anatomy under his belt, so he gets to stick around. Nick Offerman could make a great Hank, of course, but can also join Jeff Bridges here if need be. There's also the chance Clancy Brown could come back as the character.

Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

Manhunt

Here I see a production brutal beyond all limits. Just like the games, the goal is to be banned for all time from as many parts of the planet as possible. Not a successful business idea, perhaps, but that's how it can be sometimes and Rockstar can still afford to do this for me. What you lose on the swings you make up for on the carousels and so on. But here we are talking about a pervasive atmosphere that makes the blood freeze and the already weak psyche crack. Grindhouse galore.

Lite Motel Hell, part The Last House on Dead End Street. Saw, Hostel. Movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre should feel like a children's party in comparison. All my darkest desires and deepest abysses are there to be embraced. In the role of James Earl Cash, I envision someone who is really cocky, has a short fuse and is extremely violent. Preferably a guy who constantly refuses to let go of the refrigerator. Welcome Jon Bernthal! As Piggsy, the cannibalistic, pig-headed mass murderer, there's no question about it, John Cena. David Fincher, Eli Roth and Ari Aster share the directing duties, for a really dark and disturbing atmosphere.

Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

Dead Space

There was a rumor circulating that John Carpenter would be involved in a movie about Dead Space, which later turned out to be false, but it would have been something anyway. But, we think a TV series could do even better. It would be a painfully claustrophobic show, where sudden death is always waiting around every corner. A terribly sweaty experience, not seen since Alien. Trapped, hunted and alone. Cold, damp and blood-soaked. Michael Fassbender as Isaac Clarke you say? Yes, why not. After all, he's hung out in alien environments before and even if the recorder doesn't come along this time, maybe he can pull off Take Me Home Country Roads as aliens are slaughtered in the narrow corridors.

Games that should be turned into TV series - Part 2

Assassin's Creed

However, the aforementioned Fassbender will not be present when Assassin's Creed finally gets redemption in the form of a real blockbuster. We should belatedly forget the abomination of an adaptation released seven years ago where nothing worked and Fassbender was the most tired assassin ever. It's time to fix that now with a comprehensive story, from ancient Greece 430 BC all the way to Victorian London in the late 19th century. Probably at least ten seasons and billions of dollars in budget.

A huge ensemble would be involved, of course, where characters also age gradually through the different parts. Ezio Auditore da Firenze, for example, is in his late teens in Assassin's Creed II and middle-aged in Brotherhood, so there's a challenge in the casting, and there are also both male and female protagonists to choose from in the last three games, so the creators have to decide which Eivor they want to take on the journey, but my goodness what an epic adventure this might be. It's enough to make you reach for the smelling salts just thinking about it.

Have we missed any games? What do you think could make a great TV series?



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