PlayStationhas become increasingly reliant on first-party IP over the last decade or so. While Sony obviously still has a good relationship withthird-party publishers like Capcom and Konami, it’s first-party franchises likeMarvel’s Spider-Man,God of War,The Last of Us, andHorizonthat are being used to really showcase PlayStation’s latest hardware and get new adopters on board. But PlayStation’s first-party IP isn’t being used just to shift consoles.
Over the last few years,PlayStationhas been slowly wading its way into the wider world of entertainment, and its arsenal of first-party IP is once again leading the charge. Live-action movies likeUnchartedandGran Turismo, and shows like HBO’sThe Last of Usare just the tip of the iceberg for PlayStation’s plans, and there’s one upcoming live-action project that should bring about the return of a long-dormant franchise.
Gravity Rush Could Be On The Verge of a Comeback
A Gravity Rush Movie Is In The Works
Back in August 2022, Deadline’s Matt Grobar reported that aGravity Rushmovie was in the works at PlayStation Productions, working alongside Scott Free Productions. At the time, it was reported that Emily Jerome would write the script for the movie, while Anna Mastro would direct. Sony didn’t confirm the project officially until January 2024, when a few brief clips of thelive-actionGravity Rushmoviewere shown during a CES sizzle reel.
The extremely brief footage came and went with little to no fanfare from Sony itself, and no official details have been given about theGravity Rushmovie in the year sinceCES 2024. But as far as fans are currently aware, there is still aGravity Rushlive-action adaptation in the works, and they could see it within the next year or two, so long as there are no major issues behind the scenes that fans don’t know about.
The Gravity Rush Movie Could Start a Chain Reaction
Debuting in 2012,Gravity Rushis a short-lived series created by Sony’s Japan Studio, a developer best known for working on series likeApe Escape,LocoRoco,Patapon, and the earlyAstro Botentries. Originally released asa PS Vita-exclusive,Gravity Rushis an action-adventure game that sees players take control of Kat, a girl with the ability to manipulate the gravitational fields around her.
ThoughGravity Rushreceived a PS4 remaster (courtesy of Bluepoint) in 2016, and got a sequel just a year later,theGravity Rushseriesnever became one of PlayStation’s heavy-hitters, even despite receiving a good critical reception overall. Because of this, and a major part of the series' appeal being the player getting to actively manipulate gravity themselves, aGravity Rushlive-action movie seems like a bit of an odd project for Sony to tackle, especially when compared to its recently announced slate of live-action projects that includesHelldiversandHorizon Zero Dawnmovies.
But anything can be good if it has enough care, attention, and talent behind it. And if theGravity Rushlive-action adaptation ends up being a hit, a revival of the game series would be a no-brainer for PlayStation. A revival ofGravity Rushwould also fit in nicely withSony’s rumored strategy regarding dormant IPs, with VGC’s Andy Robinson claiming recently that PlayStation is in the process of bringing back some “deep-cut old IP” to potentially supplement the publisher’s larger first-party releases.Gravity Rushwould be an ideal pick for a smaller first-party title that could come in between major franchise entries like Naughty Dog’sIntergalactic: The Heretic Prophetor the nextGod of War.
Gravity Rush
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Gain a new perspective as Kat, a strong-willed girl trying to protect her future in a world that’s crumbling to pieces. With incredible gravity-altering abilities, Kat is the only one who can salvage the floating city of Hekseville – if only she could remember who she is…
