Prime Video’s Fallout is widely considered a success, with the series proving what modern video game adaptations are capable of. In its first season alone, Fallout earned 17 Primetime Emmy nominations and two wins, along with a variety of other nominations and awards. It also boasts a 94% critic score and 96% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Given its popularity, it makes sense that other streaming services would want in on the video game action. That includes Netflix, a platform that is no stranger to bringing games to the screen.
From The Witcher to Arcane, Netflix has done quite a lot in the world of video game adaptations, with some of its efforts being more impressive than others. And the streaming giant is continuing to build on this momentum, as it has multiple projects based on games in the works. That includes a live-action Assassin’s Creed series, a BioShock movie, and two projects set in the expansive world of Gears of War. The streamer will bring us a live-action Gears of War movie and an animated series. If done well, these two Gears of War projects could be exactly what Netflix needs to compete with Prime Video’s Fallout.
‘Gears of War’ Could Give Netflix a Video Game Show Better Than ‘Fallout’
For Gears of War, a live action film is nearly 20 years in the making. What was first envisioned as a big-budget New Line Cinema project in 2007 was scaled back substantially by 2010. It was then set to become a theatrical Universal Pictures release in 2016, and then it finally was picked up as a direct-to-streaming Netflix title in 2022. In 2023, Netflix revealed that Jon Spaihts (Prometheus and Dune), would be penning the film’s script, and in 2025, it was announced that David Leitch of Bullet Train and The Fall Guy fame would be directing.
Following the live-action film, an adult animated Gears of War series is set to be released by Netflix as well. Though not much is known about it at this time, there’s a lot of potential in an adaptation with a TV series’ runtime and animated format. It won’t have as many constraints as a movie, which is useful for a world as massive and detailed as the one featured in Gears of War.
Based on current reporting, it seems that the Gears of War film will tell an original story (via Entertainment Weekly). The TV series could follow suit. That’s exciting, as an original tale set in a pre-existing world can be incredible when done right. Sometimes, it even supersedes the original source material. Just look at Fallout.
And while other shows like Halo have soured audiences on creators straying from source material (which is completely fair), I think there are unique things that Halo attempted that Gears of War could make great. The aesthetic of the show itself, for example — including the Spartan armor, weapons, and environment — was top-notch. It could easily be replicated by Gears of War, which is similar in some ways. If you could combine the attention to detail that Halo brought with the intense action that Gears deserves — and add in direction from someone who’s actually familiar with the games — both the film and the series could be incredible successes on par with Fallout.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
