Now thatThe Last of Ushas been successfully adapted into a live-action series on HBO, it’s time forRed Dead Redemptionto finally hit the big screen in a movie franchise. Historically, live-action video game adaptations have been notoriously bad. The movie versions ofDoom,Hitman, andLara Croft: Tomb Raiderwere all widely panned by critics and dismissed by fans. One of the biggest problems was that, like a lot of early comic book films, the early video game movies were embarrassed by their source material.The originalMariomovieis aMariomovie in name only.
That all turned around in 2023 with the blockbuster success of HBO’sThe Last of Us. With the video game’s writer-director Neil Druckmann on board as a co-showrunner,The Last of Usfaithfully adapted the gamein a way that pleased both long-time players and newcomers. AndThe Last of Usis just one of many successful video game adaptations in recent memory:Fallout,Uncharted,Five Nights at Freddy’s,Sonic the Hedgehog,The Super Mario Bros. Movie— the list goes on. After all those successes,it’s time for one of the best video game stories to finally get adapted.
Theepic saga of theRed Dead Redemptionfranchiseis tailor-made for a blockbuster western movie franchise. Released in 2010,Red Dead Redemptioncharts the decline of the American frontieron the verge of civilization and technological advancements in 1911 (the perfect setting for an anti-western deconstructing the genre’s tropes). It revolves around former outlaw John Marston, whose family is taken hostage by the corrupt government in exchange for his services as a hired gun. to get his wife and son back, he has to bring three of his ex-gangmates to justice.
As of December 2023, the twoRed Dead Redemptiongames have shipped over 81 million units.
In the 2018 prequel,Red Dead Redemption 2, set 12 years earlier, the player controlsJohn’s fellow gang member Arthur Morgan, who takes on rival gangs, government agents, and old adversaries as he contends with the impending death of the Old West.Together, these two games tell a complete, expansive story about the downfall of the Wild Westthrough the eyes of a pair of aging gunslingers. That story is perfect for a multi-movie adaptation for the big screen. Imagine the breathtaking cinematography of Kevin Costner’sHorizon: An American Sagawith the brutal violence of theRed Dead Redemptiongames.
There’s Never Been A Gritty Western Video Game Adaptation
Most video game adaptations fall into the same familiar genre category as previous video game adaptations. Movies have been made out of fighting games likeStreet FighterandMortal Kombat, survival horror games likeResident Evil,Silent Hill, andAlone in the Dark, andIndiana Jones-style action-adventure games likeUnchartedandTomb Raider. Those movies end up having a similar approach and visual style to the other movies based on games of their ilk. ButRed Dead Redemptionwould have a unique opportunity in its genre; there’s never been a gritty western video game adaptation.
There’s A Very Obvious Story Choice For A New Red Dead Redemption Game
With the possibility of another Red Dead Redemption installment being in the works, this one important event needs to be playable in a prequel game.
AndRed Dead Redemptionisn’t just a standard western franchise;the games draw from a very specific subset of western movies. They’re based on the gritty revisionist westerns and blood-soaked spaghetti westerns that deconstructed the black-and-white good-versus-evil morality of classical westerns with ethically ambiguous antiheroes. The first game’s story of John turning against loved ones to save other loved ones is similar to Guy Pearce’s arc inthe gruesome Australian westernThe Proposition, while the second game’s story of Arthur’s glory days slipping away is similar to the aging gang’s nostalgic last job inThe Wild Bunch.
The first game’s story of John turning against loved ones to save other loved ones is similar to Guy Pearce’s arc in the gruesome Australian western The Proposition, while the second game’s story of Arthur’s glory days slipping away is similar to the aging gang’s nostalgic last job in The Wild Bunch.
A movie adaptation of theRed Dead Redemptionfranchise would be a perfect opportunity to bring back those anti-western traditions: the bleak, horrific violence ofThe Proposition; the operatic action ofThe Wild Bunch; the social commentary ofUnforgiven; the subversive characterization ofMcCabe & Mrs. Miller; the stunning wide-angle landscape photography of theDollarstrilogy. The snowy opening act ofRed Dead Redemption 2paves the way for an homage toThe Great Silence.Red Dead Redemption’s “Great Mexican Train Robbery” mission paves the way for an homage toThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
The western genre hasn’t had an easy time at the box office since its heyday endedwith the dawn of the New Hollywood movement in the 1960s. There have been some hit western movies in the years since then, from Quentin Tarantino’sDjango Unchainedto Kevin Costner’sDances with Wolvestothe Coen brothers’ remake ofTrue Grit, but they’re the exception to the rule, not the rule. It’s tough enough to get audiences out to theaters these days as it is without expecting them to take a chance on a long-dead genre.
15 Great Westerns That Bombed At The Box Office
From a forgotten Sam Raimi classic to a Christ Pratt/Denzel Washington pair up that no one saw, there are a lot of great Westerns that lost millions.
Look no further than Costner’s ownHorizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, which bombed at the box office earlier this year. It was supposed to be the first part of a four-part epic, but it made so little at the box office — grossing $31,499,251 against a $50 million budget (viaThe Numbers) — that the second installment has been indefinitely shelved.ARed Dead Redemptionmovie wouldn’t have that problem, because it would be tied to a massive I.P.It would bring in an audience that might not even like westerns as a genrebut are fans of the game anyway.
Rockstar Can’t Strike An Agreeable Deal With A Hollywood Studio
BothRed Dead Redemptionand Rockstar Games’ other big franchise,Grand Theft Auto, are lucrative I.P.s with deep cinematic influences, so it’s strange that Hollywood still hasn’t snapped them up for a film adaptation.A movie adaptation ofRed Dead Redemptionwould be a new version ofThe Wild Bunchwith a huge built-in audience, and a movie adaptation ofGrand Theft Autowould be a new version ofHeatorThe Driverwith its own massive built-in audience. So, why hasn’t a movie studio taken advantage of that yet?
Rockstar would want some creative control over a movie adaptation of Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto, and the studios are reluctant to give it.
Dan Houser — the co-founder, head writer, and VP of creativity at Rockstar — addressed this in a recent interviewwithThe Ankler. Houser explained that he’s had “a few awkward dates” with studio executives that haven’t gone particularly well. Every executive Houser has met with has expected him to be “blinded by the lights” and eager to give up his company’s billion-dollar properties for the chance to get a movie made. Rockstar would want some creative control over a movie adaptation ofRed Dead RedemptionorGrand Theft Auto, and the studios are reluctant to give it.
Source:The Numbers,The Ankler
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is an action-adventure western game from the developers at Rockstar San Diego. A sequel to Red Dead Revolver, Redemption, takes place in 1911 and follows former outlaw John Marston, who must now track down former posse members across the old west after the government kidnaps his family.
