When it comes to thinking about untapped IPs that could be used as inspiration for the next generation of great theme park lands and attractions, my mind will often wander into the realm of video games.
Hollywood inspiration
Traditionally I think theme parks would first look to Hollywood for their inspiration. However, over the decades, the film industry’s own sources of inspiration have greatly changed. Previously, the most common source of inspiration for a new movie would be popular books and novels. The printed page has inspired movies of all genres, from comedies, thrillers, romance, action and horror.
In some cases, certain authors’ works have made the jump from novel to the silver screen so often that their names have become forever interwoven within both industries. For example, if you were to glance at a shelf featuring the published works of someone like Steven King or Michael Crichton next to a shelf of movies inspired by those same authors, you might find it difficult to determine which was which.
More recently, Hollywood turned towards comic books as a vital source of finding new IPs to base movies on. The obvious blockbusters from DC and Marvel Comics come to mind. In addition, endless adaptations from other comic book publishers have brought countless characters to life on both the big and small screens.
The final results may have varied levels of success (or failure). But chances are you have seen or at least heard of Men In Black, The Walking Dead, The Crow, Wanted, Kick Ass, Hellboy, 30 Days of Night, R.I.P.D., The Rocketeer, Locke & Key, Kingsman, or the Umbrella Academy. Not to mention a little global franchise with the quirky name of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Video game IP provides new ideas
Another place we’ve been seeing Hollywood start to tap into is the world of video games. If these IPs are good enough for Hollywood, many of them may also be ripe content for theme park attractions.
There is a bit of a bridge to cross, however. So far, most of the video game-inspired attractions at theme parks are also in the film and TV industry. This means that, more often than not, the theme park counterparts are themed to the Hollywood versions and not to the original source material.
Take for example the Tomb Raider attractions that were once open at Paramount’s Kings Island and Kings Dominion theme parks. There wasn’t much theming with the Kings Dominion version. But the first Tomb Raider ride to open at Kings Island was a unique concept that definitely tried to tie into the universe of the films. This featured a Giant Top Spin-style ride enclosed inside a building, surrounded by a themed environment filled with a variety of special effects.
Super Mario and more
Universal Studios, on the other hand, decided to do things the other way around. It signed a huge deal with Nintendo to bring its video game IP to life, starting with an entire land themed around the world of the iconic Mario Bros. game universe.
The first Super Nintendo World opened at Universal Studios Japan in 2021. This features two attractions (Mario Kart & Yoshi’s Adventure). Construction has now started on an expansion that will add a Donkey Kong-themed area and roller coaster.
A similar version of this land is already under construction at Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park. This will open in 2025. Meanwhile, a slimmed-down version of the land featuring just the Mario Kart ride will open in February 2023 at Universal Studios Hollywood. A copy of this smaller version will also open at Universal’s Singapore theme park in the future.
While the Nintendo theme park attractions have opened first, it is interesting to see that Universal also signed a deal with Nintendo to create an animated feature film based on the Super Mario Bros. characters through its associated Illumination animation studio, with a 2023 release.
Existing video game IP attractions
Meanwhile, PortAventura recently surprised the world by announcing that it will open an Uncharted-themed dark coaster attraction in 2023. However, much like the progression of Tomb Raider, an Uncharted feature film came out in theaters in 2022. So far, all the marketing materials released for the new ride are based on footage from the film.
Given how long it actually takes to make a theme park attraction, there is a good chance that sections of the ride’s design were taking place at the same time the movie was being made.
Have there been any other video game-based IPs used for theme park attractions over the years? In 2016, Cedar Fair’s Carowinds theme park opened a unique shoot ’em up experience themed to EA’s Plants vs Zombies game series.
The attraction’s full name was “Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 3Z Arena”. Guests were loaded into a theater in front of a giant 3D projection screen where they would sit upon interesting little seats with limited motion action, themed to either the Plants or Zombies team and armed with a blaster gun.
The theater screen and seating were divided down the middle. Each team would take up half the theater and only see their side of the screen where they could shoot at the enemy characters. The experience ended with the team that had the highest score winning the match. It was pretty fun at the time, but sadly the attraction is no longer open. The structuring is being repurposed for something new for the park’s 2023 season.
Mass Effect, Resident Evil and more
Also in 2016, Cedar Fair turned another popular EA video game IP into an attraction, exclusively at California’s Great America. This is based on the Mass Effect game series. So far the attraction, known as Mass Effect New Earth, has remained in operation through at least the 2022 season.
Much like the Carowinds attraction, Mass Effect New Earth repurposed an identical former attraction theater space in the park. The resulting attraction seats guests in theater-style seating facing a large projection screen using a 3D projection. Unlike Plants vs Zombies, the Mass Effect theater features a live actor to help lead the action. The experience includes a journey into space along with some unplanned extra adventure along the way.
In North America and Europe, I can’t think of any other video game-based attractions. Elsewhere, there have been a number of them released in Japan, though more on a limited-time basis rather than permanent attractions.
Some have been seen as part of the annual Universal Cool Japan event. This has been transforming various video games and Japanese anime series into temporary park attractions since 2014. Through this program, we have had attractions themed to popular Japanese game series like Biohazard (aka: Resident Evil), Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter and more.
On a similar note, a couple of these were also used in limited form as Halloween Horror Nights mazes in Orlando and Hollywood. Namely, Silent Hill and Resident Evil, back in 2012 and 2013.
Proven appeal
So which video game IPs would work at your favorite theme park? That all depends on if you subscribe to the idea that they have to prove their worth in Hollywood first, or if you are willing to take a risk on making an attraction first.
If you are looking for something to have proven its worth on the screen, then a number of creations have been made in recent years. There are also a number of others set for release in 2023.
Perhaps the biggest in the past few years has been the popularity of The Witcher game series. This developed an even bigger fanbase with the release of a Netflix series starring Henry Cavill.
A monster hunting-themed multi-media attraction featuring the world of The Witcher could be a huge hit at the right park. Ideally, the first to come to mind would be to install it at one of the Universal theme parks. But, as Universal is currently thought to be building its own ride creation featuring the Universal Monsters, this may be a case of just having the right idea at the wrong time.
Microsoft’s juggernaut Halo game series would also seem ripe for a theme park attraction. It could be ideal for any park looking to add a little bit of sci-fi adventure to its lineup. The release of a series on the Paramount+ streaming service could aid Halo’s chances. Of course, this could have also hurt it, as the public reaction to the Halo series was a bit divided. The story told with the Master Chief character was essentially a reboot or alternate universe story concept that had nothing to do with the game’s established canon.
Video game IP with engaging stories
The video game developer behind the Witcher game series also released a game named Cyberpunk which features the always-popular Keanu Reeves.
So far, the only Hollywood take on Cyberpunk has been an animated series on Netflix. But the bright neon-colored world of the Cyberpunk universe could help to tell a number of different tales and feature any number of attraction concepts. Although, the ultra-violent battles may be too much for a family-friendly theme park environment.
A series based on the hit Playstation game, The Last of Us, will also be out soon. The two games featured an extremely deep story that players quickly found themselves invested in. If done right, the series could make for a popular attraction concept.
Creating new worlds
Two more giant game series have been tapped in the past few weeks. Netflix has signed a deal to create both a live-action movie and animated series based on the popular Xbox game series, Gears of War. Meanwhile, Amazon made headlines when Henry Cavill announced that he had joined forces with the company. Cavill will star and serve as the executive producer on a project to bring the Warhammer 40,000 game to life.
While there has been a Warhammer video game or two over the years, the game’s true origin was the Warhammer table-top miniatures game. This spawned the Warhammer 40,000 spin-off table-top game long before anything else.
Personally, Gears of War often comes to mind as having the potential to become a great theme park attraction. The moody in-game world was able to provide so many great visuals throughout the game series. Characters traveled through battle-ruined cities, full of crumbling statues, and massive creepy underground environments full of enemy soldiers and giant monsters.
The main Gears of War heroes are larger-than-life characters wearing easily identifiable armor and armed with some unique-looking weapons. This includes the iconic Lancer Assault Rifle that has combined the look of a typical futuristic military rifle with the added brute force of having a built-in chainsaw at the business end.
More video game IP to come
Meanwhile, there are some game IPs out there that either were run through the Hollywood meat grinder a little too fast or produced a film that featured the characters in a way that was not consistent with the game series.
In the latter category, you might drop in the two Sonic the Hedgehog films. These were more of a fish-out-of-water story that worked by taking the video game out of his universe and dropping them in our world.
Other game series resulted in films that just failed to find box-office success. For example, Assassin’s Creed, Silent Hill, Prince of Persia or World of Warcraft. Then, there is the lengthy Resident Evil movie series which attempted to create unique tales away from the game universe. In the case of Resident Evil, I’d say that they just made too many movies, causing audience exhaustion with the IP itself.
Despite it all, there are still a large number of completely untapped video game IPs out there. Several roll off the top of my head with the potential to make wonderful theme park attractions. For instance, games like Red Dead Redemption, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West, Half Life, Bioshock, Skyrim, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Dead Space and even the Fallout series.
