The lengthy quest to adapt theGears of Warvideo game series for the screen seems to have finally ended. Netflix has acquired the rights to the dystopian science fiction franchise, and has plans for both a feature film and an animated series.
Netflix announced a partnership with The Coalition, the Vancouver-based video game studio behind theGearsfranchise, to produce a feature film, which will then be followed by an adult animated series - “with the potential for more stories to follow.” Netflix did not announce any producers or filmmakers currently attached to the project, which will apparently be a fresh start from the numerous previous attempts to adapt the franchise for the screen. The announcement was made on the 16th anniversary of the release of the originalGears of Wargame, which was released on June 19, 2025.
TheGears of Wargames are third-person shooters, exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox series of consoles. The franchise centers around the human-inhabited planet Sera; after years of brutal civil war, the planet finally achieves peace, only to face an existential threat when the monstrous creatures known as the Locust Horde emerge from beneath the planet’s surface. After fourteen years of devastation, humanity launches a last-ditch counteroffensive in the form of Delta Squad, a ragtag team of soldiers led by disgraced battle-hardened veteran Marcus Fenix, voiced across the series by voice actorJohn DiMaggio. Over the course of several sequels, Fenix and Delta Squad battle the Horde, mutated offshoots of the creatures, and even their own totalitarian government. The most recent game in the series,Gears 5, was released in 2019, and explores the origin of the Locust Horde.
RELATED:‘Gears of War’ Movie in the Works at Universal
Gears of Waris one of gaming’s most popular franchises, with over 40 million games sold and a legion of devoted fans. It has spawned a number of spinoffs, including mobile games, a series of novels, action figures, prop replicas, and comic books; however, the dream of a big-screen adaptation of the game has remained elusive. In 2007, a year after the first game’s release, New Line Pictures acquired the rights, but ultimately could not bring the project to completion. In 2009, producerWyck GodfreyhadUnderworlddirectorLen Wisemanworking on a script. More recently, Universal had the property; they went so far as hiringArmageddonscreenwriter Shane Salernoto write the script, but once more, nothing came of it.
More announcements on this project are sure to come. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
