Although Marvel Studios have figured out the magic formula for adapting comic books for the big screen, it seems that the formula for adapting video games for the big screen has yet to be uncovered. This was no more evident than with the 2005 adaptation of id Software's legendary first-person perspective shooter Doom. Despite starring Dwayne Johnson, Karl Urban, and Rosamund Pike the movie only managed to earn $56 million in worldwide box office sales which didn't even recuperate Universal Studios the movies reported $60 million production budget.
A box office flop, the movie infamously avoided the video games narrative of scientists opening a portal to hell, instead focusing more on the ancient martian narrative introduced in 2004's Doom 3, which resulted in generally negative reviews from both critics (19%) and audiences (34%) on Rotten Tomatoes.
This fall Universal Studios will release Doom: Annihilation direct to home media. Written and Directed by Tony Giglio (S.W.A.T.: Under Siege) and starring Amy Manson (Torchwood), Dominic Mafham (The Musketeers), Luke Allen Gale (Dominion) and Letters from the Fire vocalist Nina Bergman, Doom: Annihilation is a low budget reboot, that promises to be closer to the premise of the video game than the 2005 movie.
While we commend Universal Pictures for at least trying the truth is that of all video game properties Doom is probably the hardest to realize on the big screen, being as the games had very little cinematic narrative to begin with. One could have emulated Paul W. S Anderson's cult classic Event Horizon (1997), or instead, attempted a darker take on Paul Verhoeven's cult classic Starship Troopers (also 1997), but sadly for Universal Pictures and for big screen adaptations of video games as a whole, we seriously doubt that Doom: Annihilation's micro0budget, direct-to-DVD approach will do the property any justice whatsoever.
