With Gears of War 4 on the horizon, it’s been announced that the long-gestating Gears of War movie is back in development at a new studio.
The Hollywood Reporter noted today that Universal Studios have purchased the movie adaptation rights from Microsoft, who have owned the video game rights since 2014. The movie will be produced by Scott Stuber (Central Intelligence) and Dylan Clark (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). No writer has been attached to the project yet.
New Line Cinemas originally purchased the film rights for Gears of War in 2007 with a script by Stuart Beattie (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl). Len Wiseman (A Good Day to Die Hard) signed on to direct with Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) attached to star, but both jumped off the project in 2010.
This is the second time Universal have worked with Microsoft on a video game movie following their joint-venture effort with 20th Century Fox to bring Halo to the big screen.
Video game movies are becoming a big genre in Hollywood at the moment following the box office success of The Angry Birds Movie and the international success of Warcraft.
Originally published October 6, 2016. Updated April 13, 2018.
