Amazon today revealed it has a series in the works based on Fallout, Bethesda’s open-world post-apocalyptic survival series. It’ll be helmed by the same people behind Westworld, so we can only hope it’ll be a fun adaptation.
Broadcast received: https://t.co/ouvgWduf3u
— Fallout (@Fallout) July 2, 2020
According to the announcement from Bethesda, this is the culmination of a years-long effort to get Fallout adapted into a series. Todd Howard, executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios (and my eternal nemesis) said “Over the last decade, we looked at many ways to bring Fallout to the screen,” and that Bethesda “couldn’t be more excited” to work with Amazon on the project. Albert Cheng, Amazon Studios’ COO and co-head of the Television division, said “Fallout is an iconic global franchise, with legions of fans worldwide and a rich, deeply compelling storyline…We’re thrilled to join with Bethesda to bring Fallout to television.”
Read: N64 classic Pokémon Snap is getting a sequel on the Switch
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Ordinarily I’m cynical about game-to-other-medium adaptations. There’ something about games that just never seems to translate properly to other mediums — The Witcher might seem like the exception, but remember it’s mostly based on the books, rather than the games. Out of all the game series out there, Fallout is probably one of the few that has a good chance of being decent, given it has a recognizable visual aesthetic, a retro-futuristic apocalyptic world that reveres Americana. Its definitely got potential I don’t think several other series have for a pulpy, enjoyable show.
As for who’s going to be translating the games to the screen, Amazon’s tapped Kilter Films’ Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. If you don’t recognize their names, you’ll probably recognize their work: they’re the creators of the HBO show Westworld. I’m curious to see what parts of the Fallout world they end up focusing on, given their own sci-fi backgrounds. But apparently they’re fans, as both said in a public statement: “Fallout is one of the greatest game series of all time. Each chapter of this insanely imaginative story has cost us countless hours we could have spent with family and friends. So we’re incredibly excited to partner with Todd Howard and the rest of the brilliant lunatics at Bethesda to bring this massive, subversive, and darkly funny universe to life with Amazon Studios.”
There is some irony in the people behind Westworld heading up this series. In case you don’t remember, the last time the two series crossed paths, the creators of the Westworld mobile game were allegedly ripping off Fallout Shelter. Bethesda accused Behaviour Interactive, which worked on both games, of misappropriating its mobile Fallout code in order to make Westworld game. The two companies reportedly reached an amicable settlement in January 2019.
Fallout is far from the only game series with a show adaptation in the works: The Last of Us, Resident Evil, Myst and Halo are all reportedly in some stage of production, though we’ve yet to hear peeps about any of them being finally released. Netflix is also reportedly working on an anime based on Cyberpunk 2077.
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