Wolverine Game 2009

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Movie games: 'Wolverine' slashes to the top, 'Terminator' and 'Museum' flop
12:58 PM PT, Jun 15 2009

Correction: The "Terminator Salvation" video game was not financed by the Halcyon Co. It was financed by Equity Games Productions and Evolved Games. Halcyon owns the "Terminator" rights and was the licensor.


WolverineGameThink having a movie break through the summer box office glut is tough? Try debuting a video game based on a summer movie. While several games have launched at your local Best Buy, only one so far -- Activision's adaptation of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" -- is a breakout hit.

During its first month on the shelves, "Wolverine" sold a very healthy 433,000 units in the U.S., according to the NPD Group, which tracks industry sales. Since video games usually keep selling for at least several months and also do a significant chunk of their business overseas, "Wolverine" could easily end up a multimillion-unit seller.

That's good news not only for Activision but for Marvel Entertainment, which made the video game licensing deal itself even though the film was produced and released by Fox. Most of the profit will go to Activision, which paid for the game's production, but Marvel will earn millions of dollars in royalties.

Fox does control the video game rights to its movie "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian," but that has turned out to be nothing to brag about. Majesco's game based on the film sold just 29,000 units through the end of May. In the video game world, that's an absolute bomb.

TerminatorGame "Terminator Salvation" has turned out to be a two-medium flop. Not only has the movie been a box office disappointment here in the U.S., but the video game sales would really give Christian Bale something to scream about.

The Halcyon Co., which financed the "Terminator Salvation" movie,also made the tie-in video game, for $18 million. That turned out to be a bad bet. The game has sold a lame 43,000 units in the U.S. since its May 19 release through the end of the month. Though "Terminator" is a popular property with the young men who spend the most time on Xbox 360s and Playstation 3s, "Salvation" landed with a thud and was poorly received by critics, earning an average score of just 48 on review-aggregating website Metacritic.

Producing the game, which was distributed by Warner Bros., itself gave Halcyon a bigger potential upside if "Salvation" had been a hit. Since it flopped, however, the indie company would have been better off making a deal with an outside publisher, which would have given Halcyon a multimillion-dollar advance no matter how the game sold.

If you're wondering, there is a game based on Disney/Pixar's smash "Up." But it was released at the end of May, so we can't yet tell if it's floating or sinking.

-- Ben Fritz

Photos: The "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" video game. Credit (top): Activision. The "Terminator Salvation" video game. Credit (bottom): Warner Bros.

Comment
- Seems like this Wolverine Mania is gathering a hefty chunk even in the game industry. To add up to the hype, it's newly released movie is giving it that added boost in the earnings.