Sony is a big company. Aside from making television sets and cameras, the Japanese giant also produces video games and games consoles. PlayStation is in fact Sony's biggest business and the Tokyo-based corporation is trying to expand its games IP across media.
So we saw the Uncharted movie, starring Tom Holland, which released last year. Most recently, it's the HBO adaptation of The Last of Us that has been grabbing headlines. It's scored big viewership numbers, got the go-ahead for a second season, and propelled sales of the games. But it's not the only triple-A series getting the silver screen treatment.
In an interview with Deadline, Sony Pictures TV Studios President Katherine Pope spoke at length about her decades in the business and expanded on Sony's plans. Because the company has a full slate, with the likes of the Gran Turismo movie, Twisted Metal series, and an adaptation of God of War all in various stages of development.
Pope told Deadline: "IP and expanding universes continue to be a big part of our business for sure, and I think a big part of everyone's business. I agree with you the PlayStation IP has become more and more important - The Last of Us was just renewed for season two - and we have a really close relationship with PlayStation and their creatives."
The Sony TV boss also opened up about the upcoming God of War TV series which is being produced by Amazon Studios and PlayStation Studios. "We're working on God of War, the PlayStation title, which is still in the early stages", she told Deadline. "I know the game pretty well, and I'm so impressed with what they're already doing in terms of building out that world and expanding, keeping all the values of the game but also expanding it so that if you don't know the game, it's still going to be a really satisfying show on its own."
Pope spoke about the challenges inherent in adaptation, saying that it is not easy to develop IP and that it can be harder than coming up with an original idea "because you have to know what is core, the most incredibly foundational pieces of source material" while ensuring you produce something that will be entertaining. So there you have it, don't expect the live-action Kratos to debut for some time yet. But boy do we hope it's good when it does eventually see the light of day.