The characters never age, they work in multimedia without complaining and -- the dream of every Hollywood mogul -- the studios really do own them.
That's why Lara Croft and Mario the Plumber are stars who shine as brightly in the entertainment business as real-life actors like Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts.
Video games have grown to rival movies as a magnet for America's entertainment dollars. Game hardware and software sales reached about $9.4 billion in 2001. By comparison, Hollywood's box offices rang up $8.35 billion, not including DVD and video.
With its growing success, the game industry, once seen as a refuge for misfit programmers in black T-shirts, has a newfound red-carpet status. As a result, video producers are becoming collaborators with the mainstream moviemakers and franchise game characters like Lara Croft of the "Tomb Raider" series are getting starring movie roles. Croft has become a big enough star to merit the attention of her own agent -- Hollywood talent powerhouse Creative Artists Agency.
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