‘Gears Of War’ Movie To Be Made By Universal Pictures

Yet another video game movie adaptation is in the works. This time, the subject is the “Gears of War” franchise, with its fourth numbered installment coming out soon. Universal Pictures will be responsible for bringing the title to the big screen to join the ranks of “Warcraft” and the upcoming “Assassins Creed” movie.

The Coalition just announced its partnership with the iconic Hollywood movie maker during a live stream event, Polygon reports. The studio’s head, Rod Fergusson himself made the announcement, adding that the adaptation is already in pre-production.

Bluegrass Films will be producing the movie via Scott Stuber and Dylan Clark, which is an encouraging development at least. The history of movies based on video games has not exactly been stellar, with the closest to perfecting the formula being Final Fantasy XV’s “Kingsglaive.”

Stuber has had some hits under his belt, including “Ted” and “Central Intelligence,” while Clark’s repertoire includes the “Planet of the Apes” movies and the Tom Cruise post-apocalyptic film, “Oblivion.” Missing details include the director and writers, as well as when the movie is expected to come out.

As to which direction the movie would take, Fergusson says that they are working on a story that would appeal to a broader audience as well as fans of the game, The Verge reports. This is a good detail to focus on, largely because it’s been one of the biggest complaints that movie critics have had when it comes to video game movies.

"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," Fergusson said. "But if you just go after the gaming audience then it isn't going to be a successful movie."

The most recent example of a film that was accused of focusing too much on its core fans is “Warcraft.” Gamers absolutely loved the flick, but critics said that it was incomprehensible to those unfamiliar with the franchise’s lore.