SALT LAKE CITY — PlayStation is known for innovative productions and top-notch stories in video games. Now the company is looking to bring that expertise to the big screen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, PlayStation Productions is a new arm of Sony Interactive Entertainment that will focus on generating entertainment based on PlayStation brands like “God of War” or “Uncharted.”
The new studio is overseen by Shawn Layden, the SIE chairman of worldwide studios, and is working on projects at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City.
"We’ve got 25 years of game development experience and that’s created 25 years of great games, franchises and stories," Layden told The Hollywood Reporter. "We feel that now is a good time to look at other media opportunities across streaming or film or television to give our worlds life in another spectrum."
Layden said the inspiration for the new studio includes Marvel and film experts like Lorenzo di Bonaventura (“Transformers”) and Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios). He also said their goal is to give PlayStation fans opportunities to see their favorite worlds and characters more often than every few years.
Asad Qizilbash, the head of PlayStation Productions, also mentioned that stories will be adapted to where they fit best.
Sony has tried for a few years to leverage games into movies, with little success. According to IGN, franchises like the horror-tinged “The Last of Us” and Indiana Jones-style “Uncharted” have been stuck in development for years. While the former seems to be put to rest, Variety reported earlier this year that Dan Trachtenberg had signed on to direct “Uncharted,” which will star Tom Holland.
Other video game movies have struggled critically and commercially, too. “Warcraft,” which was based on Blizzard’s game series of the same name, has a 28% “rotten” score from Rotten Tomatoes. Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed” movie sits lower, at 18% positive reception on Rotten Tomatoes.
Not all video game movies are bad, though. “Detective Pikachu” was received well and sits at 65% on Rotten Tomatoes.