Netflix‘s Gears of War adaptation is one of the most eagerly anticipated projects on the streamer’s slate, and the good news for fans of the franchise is that Netflix‘s Head of Film, Scott Stuber, has a personal stake in the success of the project, as he revealed while speaking with Collider‘s Steve Weintraub at the grand reopening of the American Cinematheque at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood.
Adding that he was keen to get to work on adapting the Xbox classic, Stuber admitted that the strikes have slowed down progress, but that work was fully underway on the project. Stuber was attached as a producer for a Gears of War film at Universal in 2016, and has kept a keen eye on the project ever since. The film was then acquired by Netflix, with Dave Bautista publicly enthusiastic about leading the movie, and entered development in November 2022.
The film has tapped Dune writer Jon Spaihts to pen the screenplay, while Bautista—who worked alongside Spaihts on Dune—has pitched himself for the role of Marcus Fenix, and has been desperate to take on the role, having already lent his likeness to the character in the video games themselves. Stuber explained:
“Gears of War I was the producer on when I was a producer, so to bring it full circle has been great for me to get back together with the guys at Microsoft. So those are two really big ones that I feel aspirationally. There are huge audiences. As you know, that kind of medium, they don’t translate always, and historically, as an industry, we’ve screwed it up quite a bit. But both those have really rich worlds, have really good characters, so they’re very natural kind of transitions to screen and filmmaking.”
When asked if they had scripts yet for Gears of War and their upcoming BioShock adaptation, Stuber revealed “We haven’t even got them,” Before going on to say, “We’ve done long treatments. [T]here’s a lot of people that we wanna make sure feel good. Inevitably, when you’re making those, first and foremost, you gotta make sure the fan base is good, right? So you’re working with the creators, you’re working with the teams who make the games. We’ve worked out a lot of that, so now we’ve got great writers, and I feel like, hopefully, we’ll be on the road once we get those drafts.”
What Is ‘Gears of War’ About?
The series is set in a fictional science fiction universe and follows the story of humanity’s struggle for survival against a menacing alien species known as the Locust Horde. The main narrative of the series revolves around the conflict between the human COG (Coalition of Ordered Governments) soldiers and the Locust Horde. The Locust Horde are a subterranean species that emerges to wage war on the surface, devastating human cities and populations. Players take on the role of soldiers known as Gears, who are part of the COG military and tasked with defending humanity.
The story primarily centers around the journey of the main characters, such as Marcus Fenix, Dom Santiago, and others, as they battle the Locust Horde and uncover the mysteries behind their origins and intentions, while getting involved in futuristic weaponry, intense firefighting, and groundbreaking graphics. The series is a staple of the Xbox console franchise, and a key intellectual property for Microsoft.
via Collider