5 Movies that deserve their own video game adaptations

While there is no shortage of video games based on movies, including great ones like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and misfires like Fight Club, there are still a few select titles that deserve an accompanying video game tie-in.

It makes the most sense for cinema's most epic silver-screen releases and films that caused the biggest stir in critics and viewers to be the ones to have video game adaptations.

These five titles are excellent films in their own right. But certain aspects they have, whether it's intricate storytelling, engaging characters, imaginative worlds, or their thrilling setting, could easily make them a success in the world of games, too.

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5 Movies that would make excellent video games

1) Mandy

Mandy is now streaming on Hulu (Image via Hulu)

Nicolas Cage-led cult classic Mandy is a revenge thriller about a gentle lumberjack living in a secluded cabin located somewhere in the woods. However, his quiet life turns into a journey filled with bloody vengeance as he tries to avenge the death of his girlfriend in the hands of a nightmarish hippie cult.

A blood-drenched Nicolas Cage matched with the immersive, foreboding-filled visual onslaught that Panos Cosmatos' making could work wonders as a setting for a horror thriller game. Furthermore, players would find themselves with Cage's abundance of big, fun weapons and in his fight scenes with demon bikers and S&M monsters.

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2) Argylle

Argylle starring Henry Cavill (Image via YouTube/Universal Pictures)

A reclusive author who writes espionage novels discovers that her spy stories about the suave secret agent Argylle (played by Henry Cavill) start to mirror actual elements of real-life spy missions, throwing her into the world of espionage and murder.

Argylle would be a promising premise for a new video game universe. From its abundance of plot twists, fight scenes, and espionage, it has the makings of a game that could keep players occupied.

In addition, the film has a good mixture of bone-crunching violence and snappy humor, which would present a unique, lighthearted perspective from other relatively straightforward espionage games.

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3) Inception

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Inception" (Image via YouTube/Warner Bros.)

Christopher Nolan's epic sci-fi hit movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Ken Watanabe, with its layered "a dream within a dream" narrative, would make a unique and intricate game concept.

The director himself had previously revealed that he once wanted to adapt Inception into a gaming project. However, he axed the idea because it "is even more complicated and takes even longer" than making films, as he said during a 2020 interview with Geoff Keighley from The Game Awards.

As a video game, players could explore the stunning dreamscapes the film is known for and its complex dream logic and puzzles. It can offer a heist-like gameplay with a mixture of action, stealth, and mid-boggling games. Furthermore, the player's ability to manipulate and shape dreams and change the environment would add a unique mechanic to the game.

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4) Kill List

Neil Maskell in "Kill List" (Image via YouTube/Studio Canal UK)

Ben Wheatley's psychological crime thriller Kill List starts off with a simple enough premise, a physically and mentally scarred soldier who became a hitman after being promised a big payoff. But what started as a job to kill three people unraveled into a heart of darkness.

It's a slow-burn affair of crime, violence, and horror that, if done right, could be equally tense and disturbing in a video game. It has the stark brutality and graphic violence that those who like action gameplay would appreciate, but with the added psychological thrill to build tension at every level.

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5) Knives Out

Daniel Craig in "Knives Out" (Image via YouTube/Lionsgate Movies)

Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc in Rian Johnson's murder mystery Knives Out is one eccentric character that could be a star both in the movie and game scene. The film is a labyrinth of riotously fun who-dun-it. The same goes for its sequel, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which continues the OG film's fun characters, hilarious antics, and dizzying puzzles.

If made into a video game, Knives Out could transform into an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery adventure. It would be complete with an eccentric Southern sleuth and other multilayered characters that could help tell a complex story and keep gamers guessing. Besides his eccentricity, Benoit Blanc's character bombards viewers with endless sharp and witty dialogues that could make the game entertaining.

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Stay tuned for movie news and updates as the year progresses.