Community picks top game movies

Letterboxd’s latest Showdown turned “best video-game adaptation” into a live ranking fight, with a community-voted top 20 published on April 11. (letterboxd.com) Letterboxd runs Showdown as a fortnightly list project: users submit ranked lists, only the first 10 entries count, and the site publishes a consensus every second Thursday after 8 p.m. Pacific. This round, labeled Showdown № 232 and titled “Ready Player One,” asked for the best video-game adaptation. (letterboxd.com) The consensus list includes recent studio hits near the top, including *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* from 2023, *Pokémon Detective Pikachu* from 2019, and all three live-action *Sonic* films, with *Sonic the Hedgehog 3* from 2024 also listed. Letterboxd’s public list shows 20 ranked entries and was published at 2026-04-11T22:22:30Z. (letterboxd.com) The argument lands in a different market than the one that produced the 1993 *Super Mario Bros.* film. Box Office Mojo lists *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* at $1.36 billion worldwide, while *A Minecraft Movie* finished at $960.4 million worldwide. (boxofficemojo.com, boxofficemojo.com) Critical reception has shifted too, even if fans still split over what counts as “best.” Rotten Tomatoes says *Sonic the Hedgehog 3* became the first major video-game movie to reach Certified Fresh status, and its guide ranks that film No. 1 by Tomatometer. (rottentomatoes.com) The debate is also no longer limited to theaters. Rotten Tomatoes’ 2026 adaptation roundup says 2025 brought new seasons of *The Last of Us*, *Twisted Metal*, and *Fallout*, and the Television Academy lists *The Last of Us* with 40 Emmy nominations and 9 wins across 2023 and 2025. (rottentomatoes.com, televisionacademy.com) That helps explain why fan rankings now mix at least three standards at once: box office, critic scores, and fidelity to the game. A consensus list built from user ballots measures none of those directly; it measures which titles people are most willing to place in their personal top 10. (letterboxd.com) Letterboxd’s format also rewards recency without making it automatic. Because each submitted list is capped at 10 counted slots, newer crowd-pleasers like *Sonic the Hedgehog 3* and *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* compete directly with older favorites for scarce points. (letterboxd.com, letterboxd.com) The next phase of the argument is already on the release calendar. Rotten Tomatoes’ January 28, 2026 roundup lists *Mortal Kombat II* for May 15, 2026 and a new *Resident Evil* film for September 18, 2026, giving fans more material for the next ranking fight. (rottentomatoes.com) For now, the list functions less like a final verdict than a snapshot of where adaptation fandom sits in April 2026: Mario still posts billion-dollar numbers, Sonic has critics on side, and nobody agrees on one definitive winner. (boxofficemojo.com, rottentomatoes.com, letterboxd.com)