Gears Of War Movie In Development From ‘Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Producer
Universal Pictures are developing a big screen movie based on Microsoft’s successfulGears of Warthird-person shooter video game franchise. Hit the jump to learn the details.
The announcement was made during a live stream for the upcoming release ofGears of War 4. It was revealed that the film is in development with producersScott Stuber(Ted, The Kingdom) andDylan Clark(the newPlanet of the Apesmovies) at Universal Pictures. Clark is a no-nonsense guy with great taste, so this makes me excited for this project. The Rock has long been a fan favorite fantasy casting for this property so I wouldn’t be surprised if the wrestler-turned-megastar becomes attached to this.
It’s unclear what direction the Gears of War movie adaptation will take, if it will be a straight adaptation of the games, which followed soldier Marcus Fenix in his fight against the Locust, or if it will be an all-new story set in the universe. The Coalition studio headRod Fergussonbelieves"you have to let the movies be the movies" as “they’re two different mediums, and two different audiences in some cases.” Fergusson admits that “some video game movies in the past have failed because they tried to make a movie for gamers.”
“If you have this great IP with a deep backstory and lots of lore that you may make interesting stories out of it’s great, but if you just go after the gaming audience then it isn’t going to be a successful movie. That’s one of the great things about working with Universal. We’re finding that line where we can say it has enough lore and canon that it feels genuine to the game while at the same time going beyond that and asking ‘OK what makes a great movie?'”
A film based on the game series has been in the works, off again, on again, for years, but Fergusson believes that this time, the project will come to fruition.
Tron: LegacydirectorJoseph Kosinskidirected this iconic cinematic commercial for Gears of War 2 in 2009.
In 2007, New Line Cinemacame onboardto make the movie withCollateralandPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlscreenwriterStuart Beattiehired to pen a script after turning in a 21-page treatment.Live Free or Die HardhelmerLen Wisemanwas hiredto direct, and worked on the script withWantedscribeChris Morganfor a year, beforemoving onafter having the budget slashed in half. They were trying to decide if the movie should take place in the time period of the games—in a war-torn post-Emergence Day world—or, if they should start off earlier and depict a peaceful time that’s shattered by the events of Emergence Day. In 2012, New Line Cinemadropped the project altogether.
Here is the official synopsis for Gears of War:
Gears of War follows the soldiers of Delta Squad as they fight to save the human inhabitants of the fictional planet Sera from a relentless subterranean enemy known as The Locust Horde. The player assumes the role of Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner and war-hardened soldier. In cooperative play, the second player plays as Fenix’s friend and fellow soldier, Dominic Santiago (Dom). The two soldiers join up with Delta Squad and battle the Locust Horde through the course of an action-packed campaign.
