Video game adaptations have been on quite a roll lately, with both movies and TV shows proving that you can bring a video game story to life with the proper budget, the right team behind the camera, and the right actors in front of it. Naturally, that leads to people going to extremes and picking some wackier gamers to try and adapt. If not obvious, we’re talking about the recent Twisted Metal series that landed on Peacock late last month. The car-apocalypse story has been popular on Sony systems in the past, and many were curious how it would do in live-action.
That went double when the first trailer for the 10-episode season highlighted that things would be quite different from the video game, which usually is a recipe for disaster. However, as noted by Deadline, Peacock is reporting that Twisted Metal is their “most-binged comedy.” Furthermore, Nielson reported that in the first week of its release, people watched multiple episodes in a row, tallying up 400 minutes of viewing by the time the new week came.
When stacked against other shows on Peacock, that would make it one of the best premieres it’s ever had.
However, while that is impressive, you might have noticed something a bit odd about the “results.” First, the show has comedic elements, but we’re sure you wouldn’t classify the franchise as a “comedy.” Action-comedy, perhaps, but not the latter without the former.
Second, while the viewing numbers for the opening weekend are impressive, it doesn’t state how far the drop-off of views was by the time the next weekend came. Services like Max, Netflix, Disney+, and more don’t just watch the opening weekend numbers but how long those viewing numbers stay up. As in, “Do more people come to watch after word of mouth spreads?”
That is the question that we don’t have answered yet. That’s not to say that this show was a flop. The Deadline report from NBCUniversal wouldn’t have happened if nothing good came from it. But context is key here, and that context may determine if a second season occurs.
Without spoiling the end of Season 1, a key character from the franchise’s lore shows up at the end, and it sets up multiple potential storylines should they continue.
Either way, it’s clear the series has made a mark and continues the trend of video game adaptations. Can Hollywood keep this going? Only time will tell.