An interesting piece on the LA Times Online details how Universal Pictures is scaling back its desire to manufacturer videogames based on its own blockbuster movies. The case in point is Wanted: Weapons of Fate which severely underperformed at retail.
Based on the 2008 movie of the same name starring Angelina Jolie, "Wanted" sold only 100,000 units in the U.S. in its first month, generating under $6 million in retail revenue. High-quality games like "Wanted" typically cost $20 million or more to produce, before marketing costs.

Universal probably wants to be cautious about money-losing ancillary ventures in a year when its movies generally have performed poorly at the box office. "Weapons of Fate" was hurt by production delays that saw it come out nine months after the movie hit theaters and three months after the movie was released on DVD. That meant it wasn't able to benefit from the studio's substantial marketing campaign for the film.
According to the article, all of Universal's movies that feature some kind of videogame potential are now going to be farmed out to other publishers.

Sling your hook, Mr. Two Guns...



Bryn says: For a moment there, I thought that Universal was taking a stand against trashy games based on movies. But sadly it looks like it just doesn't want to deal them internally. Sigh. When will these people realize that we just don't need this kind of tat on our systems?

Sega's Iron Man, I'm looking at you.