Video game adaptations are certainly gaining the respect of general audiences after surviving a dim age that lasted decades. But it’s always engaging to note how many movies borrow the narrative style of video games without actually being based on one. Edge of Tomorrow is a great example of this sub-category, as is its fellow time-loop thriller Source Code. On the other end of the spectrum is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which borrows heavily from the aesthetic and structure of ‘80s arcade games. Fans of the Red Dead Redemptionseries have even found similarities between the games and Taylor Sheridan’s popular Western shows 1883 and 1923.
The massively popular video game Watch Dogs was supposed to get a movie adaptation several years ago, but the project didn’t get off the ground until recently. It has been two years since the movie wrapped, but it hasn’t been assigned a release date yet. So, while fans wait for the official Watch Dogs adaptation, they might want to check out a movie that shares many of the same ideas. The movie in question was released in 2008, around the same time as the similarly themed television show Person of Interest, and was directed by D.J. Caruso. It follows the twin brother of a slain soldier, who is targeted by a shady corporation that can track his every move using surveillance technology. The film was headlined by Shia LaBeouf, who had just been anointed Hollywood’s next gigantic thing after starring in Transformers, Disturbia, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Like those movies, LaBeouf’s 2008 thriller was also a box-office hit.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re candid about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t aid but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are difficult to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle compact, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is extensive, deafening, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Here’s How Long You Have Left to Watch Shia LaBeouf’s Techno-Thriller
We’re talking, of course, about Eagle Eye, which also featured Michelle Monaghan and Billy Bob Thornton. The movie grossed nearly $180 million worldwide against a reported budget of $80 million, but received destitute reviews. It’s now sitting at a 27% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, “Eagle Eye is a preposterously plotted thriller that borrows heavily from other superior films.” In his review, the delayed Roger Ebert wrote that the “film contains not a single plausible moment after the opening sequence, and that’s borderline. It’s not an assault on intelligence. It’s an assault on consciousness.” You can watch Eagle Eye on Paramount+ in the United States until September 1, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
