In November 2022, Netflix announced it had bought the rights to adapt Microsoft"s Gears of War game franchise for both live-action and animation projects. Today, the streaming service announced that Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Jon Spaihts will be writing the live-action film adaptation of the game series.
Spaihts got that Oscar nomination by co-writing (with director Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth) the 2021 adaptation of the classic sci-fi novel Dune, and will also share credit for 2023"s sequel, Dune Part 2. His other writing or co-writing credits include the first Doctor Strange movie, Prometheus, and Passengers. He"s quoted as saying:
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.
Netflix will work with Gears of War"s current developer at Microsoft, The Coalition, on the live-action film version. Netflix also plans to develop an adult animated series based on the franchise. In the meantime, The Coalition is also reportedly working on the next game in the franchise, Gears 6.
Netflix is already the home for a number of video game adaptations, including animated versions of League of Legends, Castlevania, Cyberpunk 2077, and more. It"s currently working on several more, including a live-action TV series based on Ubisoft"s Assassin"s Creed, and a BioShock movie.