Summary

• Warner Bros. has recently expressed an interest in adapting more of its popular franchises into video games.
• Warner Bros. has experienced enormous success with its video game releases, such as Hogwarts Legacy, which exceeded one billion dollars in sales, and Mortal Kombat 1, which sold close to three million copies.
• Several Warner Bros. franchises have received none or largely poor games in the past, but are ripe for better adaptations.

Moving forward, part of Warner Bros. Discovery's business strategy will seemingly be a commitment to transforming more of its biggest movie franchises into video games. With the widespread popularity of properties including Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Batman, Warner Bros. is especially poised to profit in the gaming industry, but there are plenty of other properties the company owns that could make for engaging games.

Warner Bros. experienced enormous success in 2023 with significant video game releases such as the Mortal Kombat 1, which has sold close to three million copies since its launch in summer 2023. Although Warner Bros. owns a vast number of franchises ripe for similar success, a few absolutely must get an adaptation.

10 Willy Wonka

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971), Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005), Wonka (2023)

Willy Wonka originates from Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and its sequel, 1972s's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Portrayed by Gene Wilder, Johnny Depp, and most recently Timothée Chalamet, Willy Wonka is an eccentric character that could be very well suited to a video game adaptation, fulfilling Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav's wish of turning its properties into games (per VGC). Furthermore, his chocolate factory could be a perfect setting for a number of genres of games, ranging from a lighthearted children's movie tie-in to a psychedelic survival horror adaptation. The 2005 movie had a very poorly received tie-in game, but since the character is enormously popular and widely known, Warner Bros. could stand to make a fortune if it figures out how to successfully adapt this source of video game inspiration.

9 MonsterVerse

Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)

MonsterVerse is a multimedia franchise with an impressive roster of characters - most notably Godzilla and King Kong. While a number of Godzilla and King Kong games have been released in the past, most recent outings have been incredibly subpar, including one of the worst games of 2023, Skull Island: Rise of Kong. This outstanding franchise absolutely deserves a quality video game release. With Godzilla and King Kong on the MonsterVerse roster, the possibilities for a game adaptation of the franchise are seemingly endless. While an ARPG seems most likely, a MonsterVerse game could manifest in countless ways, even possibly a Mortal Kombat-esque fighting game in which players control the kaiju of their choice and take on a range of monstrous enemies.

8 Ocean's

Ocean's 11 (1960), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), & More

Originally starring of the iconic 1960s informal musical group, the Rat Pack, the Ocean's franchise of heist movies went on to find newfound popularity when it was remade in the early 2000s. With an unnamed prequel in production, Warner Bros. may attempt to adapt this exciting and entertaining franchise into a heist video game. Though likely more suave than Pay Day, an Ocean's video game would be an excellent stealthy alternative to the modern guns-blazing style of heist video games. The game could, similar to GTA 5 and like in the movies, focus the majority of the time on preparing for the heist and sourcing a crew of experts.

7 Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice (1988), Beetlejuice 2 (In Production), Beetlejuice (1989–1991)

Directed by Tim Burton, Beetlejuice is a 1988 fantasy horror comedy movie that spawned a popular stage musical and a short-running TV series in the late 1980s. With a sequel in development, it would be a perfect time for Warner Bros. to produce a video game featuring the manipulative miscreant, Beetlejuice. While Beetlejuice games have been produced in the past, they were in the early 1990s and, as a result, they do not possess a widespread appeal in the 2020s; consequently, fans of this side-splittingly funny franchise can only hope that Warner Bros. transforms this, one of its most underrated franchises, into an equally great video game.

6 Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th (1980), Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives (1985), Freddy vs. Jason (2003), & More

Friday the 13th is a legendary franchise of horror/slasher movies with a mixed reputation when it comes to audience and critical reception - with 12 slasher movies in its catalog, it could be argued that the franchise has gone for quantity over quality. Despite this, the series, and its most famous antagonist, Jason Vorhees, have developed a cult following and a place in the pop-culture consciousness. While Jason has featured in a number of games, including an asymmetrical survival horror game that'll be delisted at the end of 2023, he has never had an officially licensed release that has been a smash hit. With the last release in 2017, it is about time that Warner Bros. released a new Friday the 13th video game.

5 Gremlins

Gremlins (1984), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai (2023), & More

The comedy horror franchise Gremlins spawned a string of games from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s; however, none of them hold up. With the animated television series Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai being so well received, both by critics and audiences, Warner Bros. could seek to capitalize upon this resurgence in popularity with a new game. Though it is difficult to envisage how it would manifest, a new Gremlins game could be an entertaining and exciting prospect for either adults or children, depending upon the direction taken. Ultimately, it would be phenomenal for new and long-time fans of the franchise to see these furry creatures back in a game.

4 Mad Max

Mad Max (1979), The Road Warrior (1981), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), & More

Mad Max's 2015 video game received mixed to average reviews from critics, and was not enormously successful with customers; however, with Furiosa coming out in 2024 and Mad Max: The Wasteland reportedly in production, it seems like a perfect time for Warner Bros. to consider returning this enduringly popular franchise back to the video game market. One of the best fictional depictions of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic wastelands, a future Mad Max game would be perfectly suited to an open-world Fallout-style RPG or even a more prosaic, story-driven first-person shooter along the lines of Battlefield or Call of Duty. Irrespective of genre, a Mad Max game could very easily be great.

3 A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), & More

Though Freddy Kreuger has not played a prominent role in a video game since the 1989 NES flop A Nightmare on Elm Street, he has been a playable figure in a few games - most notably Mortal Kombat 10 and Dead by Daylight. While the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise has lied dormant since the underwhelming 2010 reboot, an excellent new A Nightmare on Elm Street video game would certainly help revitalize this legendary slasher movie franchise. Furthermore, there is enormous scope for how a game inspired by the franchise could be - perhaps similar to Dead by Daylight, or even an ARPG with Kreuger acting as the game's primary antagonist.

2 The Matrix

The Matrix (1999), The Animatrix (2003), The Matrix Resurrections (2021), & More

Though The Matrix franchise is not unfamiliar with video game adaptations, Enter the Matrix. As the franchise has been revived in recent years with The Matrix Resurrections, it would be a perfect time for Warner Bros. to put out a new game based on, or set in, the Matrix universe. Perhaps the franchise's most iconic figure, Neo, portrayed by iconic action film star Keanu Reeves would be willing to take part in the project - like he has famously done with CD Projekt RED's 2020 RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 (and its 2023 DLC, Phantom Liberty), portraying Johnny Silverhand.

1 It

It Chapter One (2017), It Chapter 2 (2019), Welcome to Derry (In Production), & More

It, originating as a Stephen King Novel in 1986, would make for an outstanding survival horror game. The It franchise features one of the most intimidating, indestructible, and scariest antagonists in literary fiction and movie history, the titular, shape-shifting, reality-manipulating, trans-dimensional, evil entity. Also known as Pennywise, It is a phenomenal antagonist and undoubtedly would have the ability to transition into a horror game boss. Beyond this, the unique cast of characters that face It in the books and movies could be employed in a game as survivors, in a manner similar to Dead by Daylight. Ultimately, It is one franchise that Warner Bros. needs to make into a game.

Source: VGC