The Minecraft movie has made a huge impact in Hollywood and it’s likely to fast-track The Sims movie adaptation to the silver screen. We have gone through several sources and have the latest news and our best analysis on how The Sims movie will shape up now that game-based films are the hottest trend and, possibly, what the project will be like according to the people directly involved.
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The Minecraft Movie Shock
Doubted when announced and ridiculed with every trailer, A Minecraft Movie was expected to open around 50 million dollars, which is a soft start, given a 150 million budget and an estimated 100 million dollar marketing expense. However, first weekend blew every video-game adaptation record at 163 million in the United States and 313 million worldwide. Three weeks in, it’s already at 720 million, with the billion-dollar mark within reach.
On the heels of Super Mario Bros making 1.3 billion in 2023 and every of three Sonic films – rapidly released between 2020 and 2024 – raking in more box-office than the last, video-games movies, are rising exactly when superheros and live-action adaptations are not necessarily the reliable sure-fire hits of the past. Minecraft wasn’t a fluke either. Five Nights At Freddy’s (2023), cost 20 million and made almost 300 million worldwide, even though it was simultaneously available on streaming.
This has studios scrambling to find their own Minecraft. Amazon MGM has the distribution rights to The Sims movie and they are bullish to get into the Intellectual Propriety game. They just bought the creative rights of James Bond for, reportedly, a billion dollars and want to release at least 14 films in theaters a year, Courtenay Valenti, Amazon MGM’s head of film, said at CinemaCon.
The impact of A Minecraft Movie probably means The Sims will not be a Prime Video streaming project, but a big screen release, with a sizeable budget to match. The Sims 4 is the 4th most played game in the world and a pop culture staple for 25 years. It’s exactly the kind of IP Amazon is aggressively pursuing, because it allows them to sell tie-in merchansise.
They tried this with their Chritmas release Red One, starring The Rock, but Red One was an original concept that failed to catch on. The Sims is a reconizable IP, with a lot of movie merch potential, certainly a priority for Amazon’s ambitions.
Lots of Lore
It used to be that videogame-to-film adaptation would retain the name and some of the visuals, but overall, not be very faithful. There was a concern that general audiences would feel lost amid too many references or lore. This fear has been destroyed by Super Mario Bros and A Minecraft Movie. Lots of deep cuts catering to fans of the games set those films apart from name-only adaptations. This trend will allow The Sims to be more faithful and lean into the lore, trying to create its own “Chicken Jockey” moment.
Audiences were so engrossed by the reconizable references and memes during the Minecraft screenings that police had to be called out in a few instances, because the fans were too out of control. This amused the director Jared Hess, who said, “It’s weird when you’re having too much fun and the cops get called. I’m just glad people are making memories”. EA’s vice president and general manager of “The Sims” franchise Kate Gorman understands the assignement and wants to give longtime fans what they want too.
There will be a lot of lore. (…) You will see a lot of ‘The Sims’ universe come to life and you will see a lot of the classic experiences that our players have in the games. (…) There will be Freezer Bunnies. I’m sure a pool without a ladder is somewhere in there, but we haven’t finalized any of those details.
Kate Gorman
That same Variety article she gave this interview to even name checks Bela Goth! Yes, movie theaters want meme-filled releases and are even promoting exclusive screenings where fans are encouraged to shout memes at the screen.
Many Sims classic moments are meme-worthy. From burglars, to grilled-cheese sandwiches and the Grim Reaper, there are many choices.
Quirky Director
Lots of credit is being given to Minecraft’s director Jared Hess for the nonsense humor and over-the-top fun performances in the film. He was not the usual suspect to helm a blockbuster, having cut his teeth on cult comedies like Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. Fortunately, The Sims movie is also on the hands of someone with off-beat sensibilities, filmmaker Kate Herron.
She was responsible for half of the first season of Netflix comedy Sex Education and the entire first season of Loki, Marvel’s highest-rated series to date, where she completely departed from their usual aesthetic language and presented costumes, set design, effects and score that came together in an immersive world unlike anything else in the Marvel Cinematic universe. As a writer, she showed her excellent campiness (and musical taste) in an episode of Doctor Who:
The Sims has always prided itself on being weird and Herron can certainly bring that forth.
Barbie Connection
Perhaps where The Sims will set itself apart from A Minecraft Movie will be relying a lot less on CGI. LuckyChap, the company behind the live-action Barbie is producing the film, including Barbie herself, Margot Robbie; Josey McNamara, Roy Lee and Tom Ackerley also produce it. They have the expertise of being giant pratical sets that can make Willow Creek or any other Sims world really pop on-screen.
We have no idea if Robbie will be in front of the cameras – she does produce pictures she doesn’t star in, like Saltburn and Promising Young Woman. Still, she can rock the dark hair!
Search for a Star
If Margot Robbie decides to only produce the film, they’ll probably still need to attach a name-star to the movie. Chris Pratt voiced Mario, Idris Elba and Keanu Reeves beefed up the Sonic sequels’ casts and Jack Black and Jason Momoa were no strangers to starring films that made hundreds of million on the box-office before Minecraft.
Given The Sims fanbase has lots of girls and women and LuckyChap projects are usually female-led, a comic counterpart to Jack Black could be Anna Faris, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rebel Wilson or Tina Fey.
What about Bella Goth? Is she going to be in her 20s? Jenna Ortega really has the Goth look down. Is she already older, married, with a teenage daughter and a son? Sofía Vergara is probably the first name to come to mind. But we don’t have an official confirmation on the story yet, so casting, at this point, is pure speculation.
The Sims Movie Final Thoughts
The Sims movie already has a production company and studio attached, the backing of a gigantic video game company, very experienced producers and a proven director. It’s very likely that, given how hot the videogame-to-movie-theater pipeline is right now, we should get a release date announcement soon, so casting can begin.
Expect a faithful adaptation, full of lore and memes, leaning more on comedy and quirkness, with at least a big name female actor leading, probably someone with a comedic background, and plenty of pratical sets. It’s likely a priority for Amazon MGM and EA Games and, since it’s been greenlit already, it should start shooting no later than 2026. Post-production takes at least a year, so release is at least two to three years away. Still, we should be getting a lot more news this very year, as soon as casting starts.
Comment below or in out Social media who you would likely to play iconic Sims characters and which Sims moment could be this film’s Chicken Jockey.
A Sims movie about Bella Goth might just be worth it
Either Sofia or Margot as Bella Goth, and I hope it leans heavily into the lore especially around Bella’s disappearance.
sad
IDK about how the sims movie will do because of numerous reasons but the one giant reason that it won’t compete with the minecraft movie is because minecraft have a way bigger fandom and fanbase and between 4x to 6x more players and content creators so… (lso the plot is might be likely similar to the barbie movie so don’t get me wrong on that.)
The Sims 4 playerbase is, currently, 80 million. Minecraft, just prior to the movie’s release was 170 million. Definitely twice as large. Not 4-6 larger, tough. Running for 25 years, The Sims seem to be ingrained in Po Culture, and you still see it referenced everywhere, just recently in Hacks and Blackmirror. You are stopt-on with the Barbie comparison, but they could do the reverse. A player enters the game and tries to find out what happened to Bela Goth.