The Gears of War movie project has emerged from a multi-year hibernation to show signs of life.
Per Variety, Epic Games have teamed up with Bluegrass Films and producer Scott Stuber to start work on a Gears of War movie script. Stuber was selected after Epic Games courted multiple producers via meetings six months ago including Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Paramount’s Transformers).
Bluegrass Films acquiring the rights to Gears of War is the first in several steps toward getting Dom, Marcus and the COG gang up on the big screen. Stuber and Epic will now have to shop their idea for the film to studios in hopes of landing a distribution deal. Stuber already has a first look deal with Universal so that’s one option, though by no means a certainly or the only path to cinemas the film might take.
Naturally at this early stage there is no writer, director or talent attached to the project as of yet. A writer would come on next, assuming Stuber and Epic can garner interest in the project from a major studio.
Stuber certainly has the resume to get Gears of War onto the big screen. He produced recent comedy mega hits Ted and Identity Thief, and plays in the action arena in the upcoming film 47 Ronin.
Bringing “Triple A” video game adaptations to the big screen has proven difficult over the past decade or so. Halo and BioShock both had directors attached and fell apart prior to filming.
For Gears of War, this marks the second concerted effort to portray the story of planet Sera and Emergence Day that marks when creatures called the Locust Horde emerged from beneath the planet’s surface to destroy mankind. Back in 2007, New Line scooped up the rights and tapped Stuart Beattie to write the script and Len Wiseman to direct. Creative differences eventually killed that project.
The best bet right now for a Triple A video game-to-film adaptation to reach the silver screen is Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed film project with Michael Fassbender attached to star and co-produce.
Source: Variety
