If a Red Dead Redemption movie ever comes out, Jack Black will probably be one of the first people there. Speaking to the BBC in an interview about video game movie adaptations, Black, who voices Bowser in the now-audience-approved Super Mario Bros. Movie, stated that a Red Dead Redemption movie should be made based on its story, which he believes to be as good, or even better, than the tale that Neil Druckmann cooked up for Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us and later adapted for its equally popular adaptation on HBO. Black hasn’t been shy about showing off his love for gaming, having started a a gaming-oriented channel on YouTube dubbed JablinskiGames in 2018, and while it’s unclear if his dream of a Red Dead Redemption film might ever come true, nobody should be surprised if Henry Cavill shows up at the audition.
From a BBC feature:
Historically speaking, gaming adaptations have struggled to be as popular with critics and fans in a new medium when compared to the originals, but Black says the recent success of HBO series The Last of Us has proved that gaming stories can work in a linear medium.
He explains: “I’m a fan of adaptations, when done right.”
“The Last of Us was fantastic. And what’s crazy is how loyal it is to the original source material. It’s basically all from the game with just a couple of tweaks. It’s going to win all the awards.”
“They used the video game almost like a storyboard and I was like, ‘Whoa, this looks just the same.'”
“And there are some great games that have yet to be explored in television or film. Maybe there’s going to be a Red Dead Redemption movie? There should be, because I think that [has] just as good or [an] even better story than The Last of Us.”
From a GameReactor feature:
“Hmmm… aww, that’s a very good one”, Cavill said when asked what video game would he like turned into a Netflix movie or series starring himself. “Well, that’s a tricky one, ’cause you’re tying both an IP and a company together, which is a tricky thing to do, so I certainly don’t want to put myself in any corners with that, but there are plenty of games out there… I’ve actually started playing Red Dead Redemption 2 -I know I’m a little bit late to that party- but I started playing it and I’m really enjoying it. And so, something like that I think would be fun to turn into a movie”.
“Yeah!”, he concluded when suggested “Western Cavill, huh?”