Take-Two is going to the movies

Films based on properties owned by Take-Two may be on the way. In an interview with the publishing giant’s CEO Strauss Zelnick, the exec said that the firm has licensed some of its IP for film, but isn’t able to announce anything just yet.

However, Zelnick pointed out that the success rate of films based on video game franchises was spotty at best”. Furthermore, he said that Take-Two wouldn’t be using its own money to get involved in film and TV, instead favouring licensing deals which afford the publisher creative control over the final product.

In 2016, films based on Angry Birds, Warcraft and Ratchet & Clank hit the silver screen, while Activision launched a Netflix show based on its Skylanders IP. Meanwhile, 2017 kicked off with an Assassin’s Creed film from Ubisoft. Upcoming video game films include Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy’s as well as three Tetris movies.

We have licensed a couple of titles for motion picture production and we don’t have much more to say about that yet,” Zelnick told MCV.

We are open-minded. We are certainly not going to use our own balance sheet to invest in motion pictures and TV. If other people want to license them and we can retain creative control, we are open-minded. The track record of the conversion of video game IP to motion pictures is spotty at best.”