Hollywood’s fascination with video game adaptations has taken a bold new turn, as Paramount and Legendary have joined forces in a three-year distribution deal announced on September 5, 2025. This partnership marks a significant moment for both studios, with Paramount not only securing the highly anticipated Street Fighter reboot film for an October 16, 2026 release, but also greenlighting a live-action Call of Duty movie in collaboration with Microsoft-owned Activision. For fans of both franchises, and for the industry at large, these moves signal that video game IPs are no longer a risky bet—they’re the next big thing in blockbuster entertainment.
For decades, Hollywood’s attempts to bring video games to the big screen often fell flat, earning critical scorn and only occasional box office success. The first major attempt, 1993’s Super Mario Brothers, managed just $20.9 million domestically and was widely panned. Between then and 2018, only a handful of video game films—like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Angry Birds Movie—cracked $100 million at the U.S. box office, according to Comscore. Not a single adaptation managed a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes during that long stretch, a fact that haunted studios and made every new project a gamble.
Then, in 2019, the tide began to turn. Warner Bros.’ Pokémon Detective Pikachu not only hauled in $144 million domestically but also earned a 68% “fresh” rating, breaking the so-called video game movie curse. Paramount’s own Sonic the Hedgehog followed in 2020, generating $144 million domestically and $319 million globally, despite its run being cut short by the pandemic. The audience’s enthusiasm was clear—so much so that two sequels and a spin-off streaming show, Knuckles, followed. The Sonic franchise has now surpassed $1 billion at the global box office, with a fourth film slated for 2027.
This recent wave of success hit new heights with Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie in April 2023. The film smashed records, grossing $574 million domestically and over $1.3 billion worldwide—the first video game adaptation to cross the billion-dollar mark. In 2025, A Minecraft Movie kept the momentum going, earning $423 million in the U.S. and Canada and $957 million globally. While critics were lukewarm (with scores of 59% and 48% for Super Mario and Minecraft, respectively), audiences loved them, giving sky-high ratings of 95% and 85%.
“Adaptations of popular games used to be met with a high degree of cynicism and creative misfires, but recent blockbusters and commercial hits have reversed the curse,” Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory, told CNBC. Alicia Reese, an analyst at Wedbush, added, “Video game movies and TV shows are not new, but they’re certainly getting a better volume and they’re getting better.”
Technological advances have played a big role in this turnaround. As Toby Ascher, producer of the Sonic franchise, told CNBC, “Now, that worldbuilding is easier, so studio creatives can focus on the story they are bringing to the big screen.” Industry analyst David Poland echoed this, noting that technology lets filmmakers shift from obsessing over digital backgrounds to telling engaging stories with emotional depth—without losing the essence of the games.
Paramount’s strategy is clear: double down on video game IPs. Alongside Street Fighter and Call of Duty, the studio is developing projects based on Elden Ring, Helldivers, Horizon Zero Dawn, and The Legend of Zelda. On television, adaptations of Tomb Raider, God of War, Mass Effect, and Assassin’s Creed are in the works. The goal is to build a robust pipeline of content that appeals to both nostalgic adults and a new generation of gamers—over 205 million Americans, according to the Entertainment Software Association, with the highest concentration among Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennials.
Paramount’s chairman and CEO David Ellison is personally invested in the Call of Duty project. “As a lifelong fan of Call of Duty, this is truly a dream come true,” Ellison said in a statement. “From the first Allied campaigns in the original Call of Duty, through Modern Warfare and Black Ops, I’ve spent countless hours playing this franchise that I absolutely love.” He promised that the film would be approached with the same “disciplined, uncompromising commitment to excellence” that guided TOP GUN: MAVERICK, ensuring it would meet the high standards fans expect. “We are resolute in our legacy of this one-in-a-million brand—thrilling longtime fans of Call of Duty while captivating a whole new generation.”
Activision president Rob Kostich echoed Ellison’s excitement: “With Paramount, we have found a fantastic partner who we will work with to take that visceral, breathtaking action to the big screen in a defining cinematic moment. The film will honor and expand upon what has made this franchise great in the first place, and we cannot wait to get started.” The deal even leaves the door open for a Call of Duty-based television show if the film succeeds.
Meanwhile, the Street Fighter reboot is shaping up to be a nostalgic yet fresh take on the beloved fighting game. Directed by Kitao Sakurai (Bad Trip), the movie is set in 1993—the same year Street Fighter II hit arcades—and follows estranged fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) as they’re drawn into the World Warrior Tournament by the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang). The story promises a blend of arcade energy and deeper intrigue, as old friends face off against a looming conspiracy. Legendary, the studio behind the project, originally had Street Fighter parked at Columbia Pictures for a March 2026 release, but after a brief stint with Sony and a previous partnership with Warner Bros., found a new home with Paramount.
This move also sets up a symbolic box office rivalry: Warner Bros. is releasing Mortal Kombat II on May 15, 2026—just five months before Street Fighter lands in theaters. The 1990s rivalry between these two fighting game franchises is set for a new round, this time on the silver screen.
Paramount’s push comes at a pivotal moment for the studio, which is navigating a transition following its acquisition by Skydance Media. The Legendary partnership is seen as a way to inject new life into legacy brands, with hopes that success in video game adaptations could spill over into reinvigorating franchises like Star Trek, Transformers, and G.I. Joe.
Industry analysts see video game movies less as an exponential growth engine for Hollywood, and more as a replacement for genres that have lost their box office pull—like superhero films, which have recently seen inconsistent performances. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, summed it up: “A virtual treasure trove of beloved brands, characters, situations, and stories await producers and filmmakers who are hoping to further cash in on video game fever.”
With the next chapter of Street Fighter and the first live-action Call of Duty movie on the horizon, Paramount is betting that the future of blockbuster cinema lies in the hands of gamers and the stories they love. The coming years will reveal whether these bold plays can truly level up the moviegoing experience.
