Netflix has revealed its plans to adapt the Gears of War universe through a new partnership with video game developer, The Coalition.
On the franchise's 16th anniversary (November 7), Netflix shared the below announcement, revealing that they'd be developing the Gears of War video game franchise into both a live-action feature film and a subsequent adult animated series, with room for more stories to follow later down the line.
Gears of War was released 16 years ago today and to mark the occasion, Netflix has partnered with The Coalition to adapt the @GearsofWar video game saga into a live action feature film, followed by an adult animated series — with the potential for more stories to follow! pic.twitter.com/3zInFSnUu4November 7, 2022
For the uninitiated, Gears of War is a long-running video game series that first came to life on the Xbox 360. The action-packed saga sees society on the brink of collapse at the hands of two warring factions and the Locust, a race of genetically altered humans who burst from from below the surface of the planet Sera to wage a brutal war with humans.
The first game in the series followed Delta Squad, a band of heroes led by the disgraced veteran soldier, Sergeant Marcus Fenix. 14 years after being discharged Fenix was tasked with taking the fight to the Locust and leading humanity's last stand alongside his squadmates. Subsequent titles have built upon the history and introduced new threats and heroes. Gears of War was one of the Xbox 360's best-selling franchises, and to date, the entire series has shipped more than 40 million copies.
This announcement comes as little surprise given how many game adaptations Netflix has already gotten off the ground. There are animated shows like The Cuphead Show, Castlevania, Arcane and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Sonic Prime and future projects based on a variety of popular franchises including Bioshock, Tomb Raider and Assassin's Creed which we know are in the pipeline. There were also rumors that Netflix was at one time working on a Legend of Zelda series, though this appears to no longer be the case.
Video games are clearly inspiring a number of other companies to boot. Earlier this year Paramount debuted the first season of their live-action Halo TV series on Paramount Plus, and we'll soon be enjoying HBO's adaptation of The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Plus, Amazon is bringing us a live-action series based on the post-apocalyptic Fallout franchise to Prime Video, with rumors that they're also planning TV series based on God of War and Mass Effect.
