By Stevie Smith Jan 14, 2008, 8:05 GMT
He’s long been the bane of videogame lovers everywhere (no, not Jack Thompson) and it would appear that favourable funding and tax incentives will keep Herr Uwe Boll squeezing out Hollywood adaptations of popular videogame franchises for as long as such franchises are willing to be mindlessly slaughtered on the big screen for the sake of a little extra profit.
Uwe Boll's A Dungeon Siege Tale fails to impress in its opening week of release. Credit: The-Word-Is-Not-Enough.
And so he’s back, folks – and this time with his vision of what PC series Dungeon Siege should look like when peppered with laughable dialogue, awful performances, and traffic cop directional skills.
Of course, we’ve not yet had the pleasure of seeing the snappily titled ‘The Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale’ but if the likes of Alone in the Dark, Postal, and BloodRayne are anything to go by, then this latest Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, Ray Liota-billed adventure romp will probably go down with movie-going consumers like a lead balloon.
According to ticket sale estimations on the Box Office Mojo website, A Dungeon Siege Tale has managed to take approximately $3.3 million USD in its first week showing on a generous 1,600 screens across the United States. By way of comparison, other opening week movie performances range from First Sunday, which has taken around $19 million USD at 2,200 screens, and The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, which took $4.4 million at 1,300 screens.
Current top earners on the box office site include I Am Legend, which has amassed an impressive $240 million USD in five weeks, while National Treasure: Book of Secrets has taken more than $187 million USD in the four weeks since its release. Suddenly that $3.3 million USD attributed to A Dungeon Siege Tale seems somewhat paltry.
However, if by some strange twist of fate you happen to be a fan of Herr Boll’s work, then future videogame-based releases you can look forward to include Far Cry, Alone in the Dark II, and BloodRayne 3. Saddle up!
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