Fans shouldn't be concerned by box office figures and viewership counts.
Around 80% of video game adaptations have fallen into the "painfully average" camp, and it was the 2016 Assassin’s Creed movie that solidified a curse around the process. That being said, there have been a handful of diamonds in the rough, including Netflix’s The Witcher series, HBO’s The Last of Us, alongside animations Arcane and Castlevania, and 2024 also debuted a reputable stab at Bethesda’sFallout franchise courtesy of Amazon. Since Naughty Dog’s source material was previously considered to be the most successful video-game-to-live-action project, led by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, Wastelanders are now disputing Fallout’s viewership count was higher than The Last of Us, but why should that matter?
HBO’s The Last of Us raked in 4.7 million viewers when the pilot aired - the provider’s second-highest count for a debut - and went on to average around 32 million viewers per episode. On the other hand, Amazon reported a whopping 65 million viewers tuned into Fallout within the first 16 days of the show’s availability. The Last of Us released new installments weekly, but Fallout’s eight-episode first season dropped all at once on Amazon Prime, which affected the final viewership count for both shows. While fandoms love a bit of competition, these figures never used to influence a viewer’s opinion on what projects were successful or not. Viewership counts and box office numbers matter to the businesses producing the media, not to movie buffs and gamers looking to be entertained.
Have We Forgotten About Cult Classics?
A recent debate broke out on X (formerly Twitter) after a tech insider claimed The Last of Us series beat Fallout’s viewers. Some comments stated a total couldn’t be determined by adding up The Last of Us’ viewership count each week, and others said HBO’s show gained 67.7 million viewers spread out over two months, which doesn’t compare to Fallout’s accolade in 16 days. The animosity growing in the comments section was certainly fueled by the age-old console war and toxic fans refusing to believe any other piece of media is better than their niche. However, it’s a ridiculous debacle to be involved in when viewership numbers and revenue have little to do with the quality of the art being presented in a series, movie, or video game format, but more down to the marketing.
The term “cult classic” is often used to describe a movie, series, or game that was a commercial failure, box-office bomb, or shunned by the mainstream media for being transgressive, but went on to grow a loyal and passionate fanbase singing its praises regardless. Films such as Plan 9 From Outer Space and Donnie Darko are examples of cult classic movies, and games include Okami and Earthbound. The cult classic genre is proof alone that negative reviews and financially underperforming projects can still pave the road to success simply by letting the art breathe.
The cult classic genre is proof alone that negative reviews and financially underperforming projects can still pave the road to success simply by letting the art breathe.
Current releases, like The Last of Us and Fallout, were successful, in my eyes, not because of how much money they made or how many people tuned in to watch them, but by the craft put into bringing these adaptations to life. I enjoyed The Last of Us much more, but I can appreciate the spot-on effort delivered by Amazon to bring the Wasteland into reality even though it failed to establish a personal connection with me. Unfortunately, fans are now basing success on viewership reports and its financial gain, with some even being swayed to shelve a project based on its profit or baseless review bombs - remember Rise of the Ronin's canceled pre-orders? Some fandoms will even use these figures to prove one franchise is better than the other when success should only be judged on substance from a fan’s standpoint.
Leave Commercial Figures To The Industry Insiders
If we’ve learned anything from Fallout 76 hype and even the Transformers movie franchise, it’s that projects can still sell and make a profit, but it doesn’t mean the content is worthy of the same bragging rights. Business figures used to only be scoped out by pop culture enthusiasts with a particular interest in that side of the industry, but the general fandom only cared about consuming the meat and potatoes where the entertainment lay. Therefore, it seems reasonable to say aggravated keyboard warriors have become lazy in thinking up valid reasons why a piece of media is average and turned to commercial facts to try and justify their false claims.
Thankfully, a handful of viewers from the Fallout and The Last of Us camps were in agreement that both live-action adaptations were great, enjoyable, and, dare I say it, successful.
In short, unless you’re an industry insider or have a vocational stake in the project’s fiscal success, the figures shouldn’t waver your judgment on a piece of pop culture in any way. Using these figures to fuel the bullying of another fandom or falsely crown a piece of media as “better” is a tiring trend that needs to be axed. The once invincible Marvel Cinematic Universe has now become caught in the crosshairs of ignorant box office voyagers champing at the bit to report another failure because it had a slow opening weekend, and some even believe the comic book GamerVerse will take over. Thankfully, a handful of viewers from the Fallout and The Last of Us camps were in agreement that both live-action adaptations were great, enjoyable, and, dare I say it, successful.
