Netflix’s Gears of War adaptation takes a step forward, as Dune co-writer Jon Spaihts clambers aboard.
Prepare to see lots of muscular men shooting at hordes of angry Locust, as Netflix makes a key addition to its live-action adaptation of Gears of War project.
Jon Spaihts, who co-wrote the scripts for the likes of director Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (and its upcoming second part) and Doctor Strange, is set to write the screenplay for Netflix’s film. Announced last November, the Gears of War adaptation is being made in tandem with The Coalition, the studio that developed the games from Gears of War: Ultimate Edition and Gears of War 4 onwards.
“Gears of War is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world, and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates,” Spaihts told Variety. “It wants to be cinema, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help that happen.”
Little else is known about the live-action Gears of War at this early stage, though it’s not the only video game-related adaptation in the works at Netflix – it’s also working on non-interactive versions of Assassin’s Creed and BioShock, among other things. Nor is Spaihts any stranger to writing scripts about humans encountering angry creatures on other worlds; aside from Dune, one of his earlier gigs was the original script for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, back when it was still conceived as a more direct Alien movie, and before Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite it.
With five mainline games and a couple of spin-offs, the Gears of War series has plenty of stories and lore to draw from, though we’d be highly disappointed if the film adaptation doesn’t feature bountiful scenes of soldiers hunkered down behind conveniently-placed, crotch-high walls.
More news on Netflix’s Gears of War as we get it.
