Los
Angeles
(Reuters):
Hollywood's
love
affair
with
video
games
has
blossomed
again
this
summer
with
tie-ins
to
Cars,
The
Da
Vinci
Code
and
other
movies,
but
as
in
past
years,
the
union
has
not
always
been
fruitful.
Video
games
based
on
films
often
receive
a
mixed
reception
from
game
enthusiasts,
who
tend
to
be
skeptical
of
movie
adaptations
even
those
derived
from
box
office
hits.
Still,
there
are
good
reasons
for
the
cross-pollination
between
the
two
industries.
Licensing
movie
titles
to
game
makers
offers
Hollywood
another
way
to
help
cover
the
sometimes
200
million
dollar-plus
cost
of
blockbusters
like
action
flick
Superman
Returns.
Likewise,
game
companies
benefit
from
the
millions
of
dollars
Hollywood
spends
to
promote
the
movies
that
inspire
their
games.
While
it's
too
early
to
call
it
a
winner,
Cars
video
game
maker
THQ
Inc.
said
first-week
sales
of
the
game
were
better
than
for
its
games
based
on
The
Incredibles
and
Finding
Nemo,
also
hit
movies
from
Walt
Disney
Co.'s
Pixar
Animation
Studios.
The
latter
two
game
titles
rang
up
about
100
million
dollars
each
in
U.S.
sales,
said
NPD
video
game
analyst
Anita
Frazier.
Cars
already
has
proven
to
be
a
big
hit
at
box
offices,
with
U.S.
ticket
sales
at
207
million
dollars
and
counting,
according
to
boxofficemojo.com.
On
the
other
hand,
The
Da
Vinci
Code
title
from
Take-Two
Interactive
Software
Inc.'s
2K
Games
has
sold
less
than
20,000
units
even
as
the
Sony
Pictures
film
has
been
a
smash
success
with
a
box
office
haul
of
213
million
dollars
in
the
United
States
and
515
million
dollars
worldwide.
Industry
watchers
said
the
reason
for
the
disparity
is
that
the
elements
of
a
good
movie
are
not
identical
to
those
of
a
good
video
game.
As
a
result,
each
product
has
to
be
tailored
to
its
respective
audience.
''It's
a
different
medium.
It
needs
to
be
treated
differently,''
said
NPD's
Frazier.
She
noted
that
video
games
often
offer
20
or
more
hours
of
interactive
play,
while
movies
are
passive
entertainment
lasting
around
90
minutes.
While
video
game
fans
say
they
want
a
faithful
movie
adaptation,
being
too
faithful
has
been
many
a
filmmakers'
undoing
because
it
can
kill
the
tension
and
surprise
on
screen,
director
Paul
W.S.
Anderson
said
at
the
recent
Hollywood
and
Games
Conference
in
Beverly
Hills.
''If
you
stray
too
far
from
the
source
material,
you're
doomed.
If
you're
married
to
it,
you're
doomed.
It's
a
minefield,''
said
Anderson,
who
directed
the
Hollywood
adaptations
of
Mortal
Kombat
and
Resident
Evil.
Lara
Croft:
Tomb
Raider
is
the
top-grossing
film
of
the
movie-video
game
genre,
with
a
U.S.
gross
of
131
million
dollars.
The
second
film,
Lara
Croft
Tomb
Raider:
The
Cradle
of
Life,
holds
the
No.
4
spot
with
a
U.S.
take
of
almost
66
million
dollars.
creen
siren
Angelina
Jolie
turned
out
to
be
the
big
draw
for
the
films
based
on
the
game
franchise
that
racked
up
nearly
340
million
dollars
in
U.S.
sales.
''They
lucked
out
in
finding
somebody
who
really
embodied
the
character
of
Lara
Croft,''
Ricardo
Torres,
senior
editor
at
GameSpot,
said
of
the
film's
sexy
leading
lady.
Anderson
said
filmmakers
can
navigate
the
tricky
terrain
by
giving
audiences
a
fresh
look
at
the
story.
For
example,
Anderson
said:
''The
last
frames
of
the
movie
would
become
the
first
frames
of
the
video
game.''
He
directed
1995's
Mortal
Kombat,
the
third-ranking
film
in
the
genre
with
a
U.S.
gross
of
70
million
dollars,
and
filled
in
gaps
left
in
the
game's
story
line
to
give
the
audience
for
the
martial
arts-filled
movie
something
new.
But
for
a
video
game
and
movie
combination
to
be
a
runaway
commercial
success,
it
has
to
grab
both
game
enthusiasts
and
a
mainstream
audience,
and
that
requires
going
after
the
two
distinct
audiences
separately.
Marc
Weinstock,
executive
vice
president
of
marketing
for
Screen
Gems,
a
division
of
Sony
Pictures,
said
his
team
ran
a
movie
poster
contest
for
''Silent
Hill''
that
created
buzz
among
fans
of
the
survival
horror
video
game
from
Konami
Corp.
Yet
for
non-gamers,
the
studio
promoted
the
title
like
any
other
film.
''People
told
me
they
didn't
know
'Silent
Hill'
was
a
game.
That,
to
us,
is
success,''
Weinstock
said.