According to a recent story from The Information, Epic Games is considering launching an entertainment division focused on creating scripted video content. As part of this report, The Information claims that the company has already begun having discussions about creating a Fortnite movie.
“The division could develop projects including a feature film based on Fortnite, the people said. Such a film has already been discussed. Planning for the entertainment division follows the hiring in 2021’s first two months of several executives from Lucasfilm, including Jason McGatlin, formerly vice president of Physical Production at Lucasfilm and now president of Special Projects at Epic,” writes Mathew Olson of The Information. “McGatlin was executive producer of all the Star Wars films released under Disney. Other hires from Lucasfilm are Lynn Bartsch, Epic’s head of Business Affairs, and Chris Furia, Epic’s vice president of Production Finance, according to the executives’ LinkedIn profiles.”
This comes as part of a greater effort for Epic Games to diversify the studio’s brand. In recent years, Fortnite collaborated with many celebrities, including director Christopher Nolan. This partnership included a trailer for the film Tenet being debuted in the game prior to the movie’s release.
The Profit‘s Take:
Unfortunately, the cut scenes for the game’s new seasons and chapters are the worst part of Fortnite. There’s no story, and they’re not that good. But that could be a good thing because it gives Fortnite a blank slate to work with. They can go in any direction with this. I feel like this is basically going to be a kids’ movie. I don’t see this being a violent, action-filled film. Honestly, this is a bit of a confused strategy. Don’t get me wrong, I get the idea. You have a great IP and a huge following so making a movie probably makes business and financial sense. However, Fortnite is supposed to be spearheading the move into the metaverse. I feel like making a traditional movie is a step backward in this regard. Becoming a more physical and real-world company is a lot less exciting than becoming a more digital entity. I am more interested in a Fortnite skin than a Fortnite t-shirt. Metaverses are supposed to get rid of the physical. I feel like this pulls us out of the metaverse, which I don’t understand. I don’t know if this will flop or not. I think a Fortnite TV series would make more sense. On top of that, this would work a lot better with real people rather than animation. It could just be an attempt to keep Fortnite relevant. The margins on a movie are not the same as the margins on skins. If your core business is going away, and people are buying fewer skins, movie revenues may temporarily fill that hole, but, long-term, you’re still going to end up trending downward. In an ideal world, the movie will build on the game and vice versa. I don’t know if there is enough IP to build a whole universe. If they can manage that, it could be really cool. Regardless, they should definitely do tie-ins with the game so you can get in-game rewards by proving you purchased a movie ticket.
(All information was provided by IGN and The Information)
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