Big changes are taking place at Marvel’s Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games, and with new leaders stepping in to take over the studio, the team is once again interested in bringing some of its video game properties to the big screen.
Speaking to Variety, Insomniac’s new co-studio head Ryan Schneider looked back on the studio’s first foray into Hollywood–2016’s Ratchet and Clank–and how Insomniac got an “early start” on game-to-screen adaptations at the time.
“I think back to the Ratchet and Clank film from several years ago,” Schneider said. “And we kind of got an early start on that. So, of course, we’re interested in that kind of thing. We love Ratchet and Clank in particular.”
Ratchet and Clank wasn’t a box office hit when it was first released, as it only earned $13.3 million at the global box office during its short run and a mixed critical reception. “Ratchet & Clank pulls us across the universe at a breakneck pace, but it never seems to take us anywhere. The series may have found success in video games, but in the meantime, it’s merely stumbled into film,” Mike Mahardy wrote in GameSpot’s review of the film.
In comparison, The Super Mario Bros. Movie based on the Nintendo IP was a critical and commercial hit, with a sequel currently in development. Meanwhile, Sony has slowly been branching out into transmedia projects throughout the 2020s, as live-action Uncharted and Gran Turismo movies were released in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
The Last of Us was also turned into a smash-hit TV series, and its second season is scheduled to air in April. More adaptations of Sony games are on the way, starting with live-action versions of Helldivers and Horizon Zero Dawn. In the anime department, Ghost of Tsushima is getting an animated series that’ll be produced by Demon Slayer studio Aniplex.
Schneider is one of three co-studio heads who will be taking over from Ted Price, as he’ll be joined by Chad Dezern and Jen Huang. The studio also briefly mentioned its upcoming Wolverine game, teasing that an announcement would be made when the time is right to do so.