'Gears of War' on Netflix: What We Know So Far

By Michael Hein

Gears of War fans are rejoicing over the news that Netflix is developing an adaptation, but details are still scarce. Last month, The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Netflix has struck a deal with game developer The Coalition to acquire the screen rights to Gears of War, with the intention of making a movie and perhaps an animated TV series as well. Fans have plenty of follow-up questions, but so far there aren't many answers to share.

The Coalition hosted a prolonged and competitive bidding war for the screen rights to Gears of War, as it remains one of the biggest video game franchises in the world. The first game in the series was released in 2006 on the Xbox 360, and since then there have been five more main-line titles as well as several spinoffs. The franchise has sold over 40 million copies to date, so presumably, that fandom will turn out for a movie or TV show. So far, no talent has been officially attached to the Netflix project.

Gears of War is a third-person shooter set in a science fiction future where mankind has colonized other planets. The first trilogy of games was set on a planet called Sera where human society had all but collapsed. Its survivors were in opee warfare against a race of subterranean reptilian hominids known as "The Locus Horde." Later, humanity and the Locust Horde teamed up to fight against mutant reptilians known as The Lambent.

Like other sci-fi video game franchises, Gears of War has seen its lore deepen in other forms of media since its creation. Starting in 2008, Karin Travis wrote a series of novels expanding the storylines of the games and adding new world-building elements. More recent books were written by Jason M. Hough and Michael A. Stackpole.

Meanwhile, DC Comics began publishing Gears of War comic books under its Wildstorm imprint in 2009. These were generally separate from the storylines of the games, and have continued to come out periodically over the years even though Wildstorm is now defunct.

As for the big screen, that was one of the first undertakings after the video game's initial success. New Line Cinema purchased the rights to make a Gears of War movie in 2007, but the project stalled after a few promising press releases. Updates came sporadically in the years that followed as the rights were passed between production companies.

Hopefully, Netflix can live up to fans' expectations, and the long-held hope that this project would come to fruition. Gears of War games are available on the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One, as well as PC. There is no production schedule in place for Netflix's movie just yet.

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