It's no secret that video game movies have been risky propositions for most of their history, though that's changed in more recent years with successful adaptations of big properties like Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. But back in the mid-2010s, the genre was still mostly wildcards bending toward box office bombs. Unperturbed by this, Sony decided to get in on the business with a handful of movies adapting major PlayStation properties. Specifically, two hit action-platformer franchises from the PS2 era -- "Ratchet & Clank" and "Sly Cooper" -- were put in development as animated films.

The "Ratchet" adaptation was announced in 2013, and the "Sly" movie got a full teaser trailer a year later. Blockade Entertainment, animation studio Rainmaker Entertainment, and director Kevin Munroe and animation studio were attached to both. The projects even had some video game pedigree in the form of Blockade producer Brad Foxhoven, who previously worked...