Summary
An animated adaptation of the award-winning video gameStrayis in active development a year after it was released. InStraygamers play as a stray cat that is lost in an underground city which is only inhabited by robots and mutant bacteria.
The game won Best Independent Game and Best Debut Indie Game at The Game Awards along with being nominated for four other awards including Game of the Year. For a game where you play as a stray cat, it has quite a compelling story which makes sense for it to get a film or TV adaptation.
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It was first announced byEntertainment Weeklythat Annapurna Animation, thestudio behind Netflix’sNimona, is looking to capitalize off of their recent success with a new phase of movies. A part of the plan is to adapt projects from their video game division Annapurna Interactive. The first video game adaptation that the studio plans to create isStray. The studio has not said what other games they plan to adapt, but the studio executives Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein explained to EW in an interview that they chose Stray to be the first adaptation because “it is just wildly popular”
In the Interview Baird and Millstein also explained what the film is going to focus on and the challenges in making it. “It’s a buddy comedy about a cat and a robot, and there’s such a hilarious dynamic. So, there’s comedy inherent in this, but there’s not one human being in this movie. I think it’s one of the reasons why the game was incredibly popular” Baird continued “You are seeing the world through the point of view of an adorable cat. How did they pull that off, and how arewegoing to pull that off in the movie? Wewill, even though sometimes it feels impossible”
Strayseems like an oddly perfect choice for an animated film adaptation. At first, it seems weird becauseit isn’t a big franchise like Mario or Sonicwho had to wait years to get a good adaptation. Although it will have its difficulties trying to recapture the charm of playingStray, the game is still based on a lot of narrative rather than gameplay which makes it a great choice for an adaptation.
Fans ofStrayshould be very excited for the film adaptation andfans of other Annapurna Interactive gamesshould keep an eye out for future announcements on film adaptations.
