Adi Shankar has made a name for himself in Hollywood thanks to the popular projects he produced such as Netflix’s Castlevania animated series, cult fan-favorite film Dredd, and Netflix’s recent Guardians of Justice to name a few. The producer is currently working on a number of projects for the future including animated series for Devil May Cry, Far Cry, and PUBG. We here at Comicbook.com had the opportunity to talk with Shankar about the future of Hollywood in the face of the success of the latest video game adaptation, The Super Mario Bros Movie.
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In talking with Adi Shankar, the topic of the success of both The Super Mario Bros Movie, and HBO’s The Last Of Us, had us asking if the prolific producer thought that Hollywood would take away the right lessons from these properties’ success. In breaking down the question, Shankar shared his thoughts as to whether the entertainment industry would see why the properties were a success for their individual merits or if they’d open the floodgates on video game adaptations. “They’re gonna do the second,” Shankar stated, “Let’s not lie to ourselves here.”
Hollywood x Video Games
Shankar, who has made quite a few adaptations both video game and otherwise, then humorously stated that it was a good time for his business model, “The question is, can I milk enough opportunities where I’m in a good position in the marketplace?” Fan reception to the original Castlevania animated series remains high, as a new iteration of the series is on the way in Castlevania: Nocturne.
Adi then went into further detail when it came to how Hollywood has changed in the era of streaming versus the older days when films were relegated to theaters and home video, “I think that the Hollywood machine was flawed, but there’s been a big overcorrection in some ways. If ninety-nine percent of eyeballs are on one percent of the content, like Marvel or Star Wars, and they make thirty more Marvel and Star Wars, that might not work either. The Super Bowl is a good example of this where that is a national event, but it only comes once a year. If you were to stretch it to once a month, might not be as effective. The same might happen here (with video game adaptations).”
Do you think Hollywood will take away the “right lessons” from Mario? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Adi Shankar’s projects, past and future.
