Amazon orders game-based God Of War TV show to series
As HBO prepares to debut The Last Of Us, Amazon is gearing up for a prestige video game adaptation of its own
Aux News God Of War
It’s not a new thing to note that Amazon seems almost perpetually stuck in a game of catch-up when it comes to its Prime Video offerings. Even The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power—easily the most successful show in the streaming library’s offerings—came as a result of a multi-year plan to replicate the success of HBO’s Game Of Thrones. (Arriving, with no small irony, almost the same week as HBO’s own efforts to recreate that particular swords-and-sorcery magic.)
Now—as HBO gears up for the release of The Last Of Us, Craig Mazin’s big-budget adaptation of the critical video game darling of the same name—Amazon has announced that, well, it’s gonna do that, too: Per Variety, Bezos’ Boys have announced that they’re moving forward with a TV adaptation of Santa Monica Studios’ celebrated God Of War games.
We actually first wrote about this idea back in March, when Amazon first started sniffing around at the idea of bringing the voyage of Kratos, God Of War, and his son Atreus, Boy Of War, to the small screen. Now the show has been officially picked up to series, with Wheel Of Time’s Rafe Judkins serving as showrunner. (As much as “getting a full series order” means anything in these days of increasingly common take-backs on show orders, at least.)
The God Of War games are prime fodder for this sort of treatment, admittedly: Building on the earlier series of the action-adventure games of the same name from the PlayStation 2 and 3 eras, the game told an emotionally affecting story about family bonds and redemption, with a sequel, Ragnarok, bringing the series to a satisfying conclusion last month. Cory Barlog, creative director at Santa Monica, will serve as an executive producer on the show.
Gaming adaptations are becoming increasingly common of late: In addition to The Last Of Us (which debuts on January 15), Peacock is gearing up for a very weird-sounding adaptation of the Twisted Metal games, while Amazon is also developing a Fallout series with Walton Goggins in a starring role.
17 Comments
So Amazon is doing Fallout, while Netflix decided to go with with Horizon. Now Amazon is going for both Mass Effect and now God of War. We got HBO’s Last of Us. Oh, and Netflix Bioshock movie. Ok, what’s next? Death Stranding? Dishonored? Some kind of Final Fantasy? Oh can’t forget Disney +, so maybe Animal Crossing or Zelda. Oh, probably one of the smaller streaming networks might go for a lesser known video game. So the question isn’t what else will be in the works as a movie or TV show? More like when will there be more announcements? In non-anime form. Maybe fully CGI.
I’m sort of annoyed the board game to movie pipeline has dried up. We never got a Sorry movie, or a Chutes and Ladders. Mousetrap as a limited edition Netflix series? It’s an IP goldmine and it’s just been abandoned. Although the Dungeons and Dragons movie might kickstart a tabletop gaming craze. We could finally get a Catan movie, or Munchkin.Frankly, I can’t wait until companies start turning whole brands into movies. It’ll be a whole new chapter in cinema.
Bounty: The Quick Pick-upHeinz: The 58th Variety
Escape to Mt. OliveI bet AI will have these scripts and more completed within three years.
I think they’re remaking Clue.
I blame Rihanna for killing off the board game movie genre.
I blame Battleship. And Taylor Kitsch.
Where in the World Are Carmen Sandiegos’s Tits?
I’m thinking restaurant/fast food chains could be a goldmine:The Taco Bells of St. Mary’sMidnight in the Olive Garden of Good and EvilThe Burger King and I
Five Angry Guys.
What About Bob Evans?
There was a Zelda project at Netflix cancelled after a leak. Final Fantasy’s had some animated films and shows already, so that wouldn’t be surprising.I wouldn’t be surprised if the next few well-received adaptations wind up being lesser-known games like you said, that can sidestep preconceptions. Sorta like how there were a bunch of comic movies that stayed out of the conversation on account of the source material being fairly obscure.
I wouldn’t mind an attempt at a Control series/movie, honestly. Although it’d be hard to live up to the game.Oh, and Returnal. I’m mandated to mention Returnal whenever we talk game-stuff in AV Club.
Control as a TV series could work. But it would be expensive as a mostly on set for locations. It would have to alter many ways to execute the story since a lot of the story involves finding and reading documents. It can be done, just more of a technical challenge. Still, better chances as a show than as a movie.Returnal as a movie can be done. Groundhog’s Dayish stuff tend to be fun, but the ending has to be reworked in my opinion. Ambiguity and symbolism can be hit or miss in a game. And the game story, ending, and even secret ending was more divising or unsatisfying to many gamers and fans. As a movie Ambiguity and symbolism can be frustrating to many audiences, especially if they haven’t played the game. Sprinkled here or there, it can be done well. But I think more audience viewers might be left saying, “The ending ruined the whole movie for me.”
Photorealistic CGI PaRappa
Does JJ Abrams have any acolytes left to give it to
And yet my treatment for Jet Set Willy: Manic Minors remains on the shelf!
I’d love a Shenmue series. Failing that, Just Cause
Can we de-age Antonio Banderas and Joe Don Baker enough to make Just Cause believable?