Developer The Coalition has officially announced that a "Gears of War" movie is on the way during an ongoing "Gears of War 4" livestream. Studio head Rod Fergusson even confirmed that he will be planning to work with movie studios to make this happen.
According to Variety, the film adaptation of the hit action game is already being developed with Universal Pictures with the supervision of veteran film producers Scott Stuber ("Ted," "The Kingdom") and Dylan Clark ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes"). There have been numerous rumors about the game having a film adaptation but, this time, Fergusson has already begun taking action in making it happen.
There were already comics and novels published under the "Gears of War" franchise. Now, The Coalition studio head wanted to "to support the franchise" by taking "the next logical step" by having a movie in production. "The opportunity to work with Universal to bring the movie to life was perfect," he added.
However, even if the film will be based on the story of the franchise, it isn't clear whether film will be using the exact story straight from the game's campaign or an entirely new story also set in the same universe and conflict of game's story.
Instead, Fergusson further stressed that he actually wouldn't want to just convert the campaign's story of "Gears of War" into the big screen, but to make an entirely new story. Of course, he wouldn't just disregard the games lore and story to pave the way for the movie; but he still wanted a "Gears of War" movie that will be the best and most faithful adaptation to the games.
"I think you have to let the movies be the movies," Fergusson told Variety. "They're two different mediums, and two different audiences in some cases, and I think 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 can 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.
In an article from Gamespot, this wasn't the first time a "Gears of War" movie was announced. Even before developer Cod Fergusson teased about it earlier in July, New Line Cinema was able purchase the rights to make a movie based on the game back in 2007. The project even got producers and a writer ready for it. The production, however, ran into problems with the development and has been put on hold ever since. Five years later, another rumor actually surfaced, but hasn't had any other follow-up - until now.
Fans will have to wait for further news, or even a trailer for the film adaptation of "Gears of War." In the meantime, they would just have to look forward to "Gears of War 4", which will be released on Xbox One and Microsoft Windows on Oct. 11.