The first Gears of War was incredibly influential and released 16 years ago on the Xbox 360. And to mark the occasion, Netflix has announced that it is developing a live-action film based on the franchise as well as an animated series. It also noted that there was “potential for more stories to follow.”
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/3zInFSnUu4
— Netflix (@netflix) November 7, 2022
The streamer revealed the news on Twitter just after The Hollywood Reporter dropped a report on the subject. The outlet notes that this deal comes after long negations and that Netflix is partnering with The Coalition, the developer that picked the franchise after Epic Games moved away from it. It seems as though the film will adapt some portion of the video games and will come before the adult animated series. No creatives have been attached to the project so far.
Many, in some form another, have attempted to make a Gears of War film for practically the series’ whole lifespan. New Line grabbed the rights in early 2007 before scaling the budget back in 2010, which lead to it stalling out. A Gears of War movie was announced during a Gears of War 4 livestream in 2016 and was said to be coming from Universal and a new story not based on any of the games. The Hollywood Reported said that this iteration stopped at the screenwriting phase.
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Actor Dave Bautista isn’t attached to these projects, but has been incredibly vocal about wanting to play Marcus Fenix, a protagonist for most of the games. He told GameSpot in 2018 that it would be a “dream role” and tweeted the following year that he had tried everything in his power to get it to happen. Bautista continued this campaign in 2021 by telling Collider that he had a meeting with Universal to speak about The Fast and the Furious, but instead spent it gauging interest on a Gears of War film.
Bautista did eventually cross paths with the Gears of War series, though. He made his way into Gears 5 as more than just a skin, providing his likeness and voice. Players could not only play as him in multiplayer, but could also substitute him into the campaign in the place of Marcus Fenix. He even has an achievement named after him and his WWE finishing move.
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Terry Crews also showed interest in starring in a Gears of War movie, but hasn’t been as persistent as Bautista. In 2019, he responded to a fan suggesting (which has since been deleted) that he should play Cole Train, saying that he “[liked] it very much.”
No new video game entries have been announced Gears 5‘s Hivebusters DLC, which was released in December 2020.
