Picture: The Coalition
Netflix is further venturing into video game adaptations with the newly announced Gears of War movie and adult animated series. We’ll update you on everything we know about the forthcoming adaptations below.
Announced on November 7th, 2022, Netflix revealed that they’re working on two Gears of War projects as part of the 16th anniversary of the original game’s release.
Per Netflix:
“Netflix will first adapt the video game saga into a live action feature film, followed by an adult animated series, with the potential for more stories to follow.”
The projects will be developed in partnership with The Coalition, the game studio behind the franchise.
In March 2023, Netflix announced that writer Jon Spaihts (Dune 1 and 2, Doctor Strange) had been attached to the project. In a statement, Spaihts said:
“Gears of War is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world, and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates. It wants to be cinema, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help that happen.”
Picture: Netflix / The Coalition
A brief history of the video game franchise – Gears of War
If you’re a complete novice on Gears of War, here’s a brief rundown on what you need to know about the long-running franchise, one of Xbox’s biggest franchises behind only Halo and Forza.
The video game franchise kicked off in 2006 with Epic Games developing the third-person shooter action game with Cliff Bleszinski and Rod Fergusson behind the title.
After multiple entries, Microsoft eventually acquired the game series in 2014 and founded a new development studio, The Coalition, to work on the game series ever since.
Picture: The Coalition
Five core games have been developed in the game’s franchise thus far, with three spin-offs, including Gears of War: Judgment, Gears Pop!, and Gears Tactics.
Known for big set pieces, the game franchise is set on Planet Sera and sees the battle between humanity and a reptilian hominids known as the Locust Horde.
The game primarily follows Marcus Fenix, a soldier in the Coalition of Ordered Governments.
There are many great recaps of the entire history of the game franchise breaking down the pendulum wars, the locust horde, emergence day, and the game’s events, but we’ve picked this one out from TGN. Well worth a watch to familiarize yourself with the lore and backstory of the games.
This isn’t the first time Gears of War has been developed into live-action
This isn’t the first time we’ve nearly seen Gears of War coming to our screens, with an adaptation being in development as early as 2010. Early development on the movie was done at New Line with Temple Hill.
The Wrap reported in 2013 that Scott Stuber (now head of films at Netflix) won the battle to produce the movie under the Bluegrass Films banner.
Then in 2016, Universal Pictures optioned the rights to make a Gears of War movie. Back then, Scott Stuber worked at Universal and would’ve served as a producer on the project alongside Dylan Clark (Planet of the Apes, Oblivion).
In 2017, Universal drafted in Shane Salerno to pen the script, although that eventually fizzled out. Then, in 2018, F. Scott Frazier was hired to write the Universal movie, although the option rights eventually lapsed.
Eventually, the option rights expired, and as you now know, Netflix is next to try and adapt the title.
In a ScreenRant interview, Rod Fergusson told the outlet what he hoped for when it came to an adaptation saying:
“Between us, me and the producers and the studio at Universal. Basically, I wanted to make it really simple for them to be creative in that space. Much like when I work with the book author or the comic book author, I try to find some pocket of negative space where they could play and not feel obliged. [Not] like they’re going to redefine my lore, or that I’m going to overly constrict them. What I told the told Universal and Dylan Clark Productions was, “Make a great movie first, and make a Gears movie second.””
Is Dave Bautista starring in Netflix’s Gears of War?
No, at least not yet.
Many got confused and rightly excited when Dave Bautista (who has starred in multiple Netflix projects, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story and Army of the Dead) posted that he “can’t make this any easier” with a promo video with him suiting up in Gears of War attire.
I can’t make this any easier. @gearsofwar @netflix #marcusfenix #GearsofWar pic.twitter.com/SzDpiT2rNA
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) November 10, 2022
Some connected the dots that this meant Bautista had been cast in the movie and/or animated series, but that’s not the case yet. The video seen in the Tweet is a promotional one for Gears 5, released in September 2019, where you could unlock Dave as a playable character in the game.
Naturally, with the hashtag, Bautista believes he’s perfect for the role of Marcus Fenix, and he does naturally have the build required to play the role, so it’s a game of wait and see.
Dave Bautista in Gears 5 – Picture: The Coalition
This is just one of many video game adaptations in the works at Netflix. Other big IP getting adaptations include Assassin’s Creed, Bioshock, Sonic, Horizon, and Tomb Raider.
Are you looking forward to Gears of War getting an adaptation at Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
