Netflix has taken a giant step in ensuring its adaptation of the popular video game franchise Gears of War becomes a reality. A few months after the streamer announced that it was partnering with The Coalition to bring the video game to the screen, it has now brought on Jon Spaihts to pen the script for the live-action feature film adaptation. Spaihts is an Academy Award-nominated scribe who is no stranger to the world of adapting big genre IPs. He has previously provided the script for high-profile projects including The Mummy, Prometheus, The Darkest Hour, and most recently the Dune franchise as well as Doctor Strange.

A widely-loved third-person video game, Gears of War is set in a dystopian future where humanity faces extinction at the hands of monstrous alien creatures known as the Locust Horde who attack from under the ground. Charged with leading humanity’s last stand is the Delta Squad, a ragtag team led by disgraced sergeant Marcus Fenix. Since its release in 2006, the game has become one of the most popular in its genre with passionate fans who’ve stayed loyal across over 5 games in the series. Spaihts clearly has a lot of material to work with, and he’s excited to get started. “‘Gears of War’ is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world, and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates,” Spaihts said in a statement. “It wants to be cinema, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help that happen.”

With a writer now attached to the project, Netflix has reached the stage where other studios seeking to adapt the video game equally reached but failed to advance from. Armageddon screenwriter Shane Salerno was the latest scribe named to provide a screenplay for Universal’s attempt at an adaptation but like previous studios before it, it never came to fruition. Netflix will be hoping to be the first studio to scale past this stage and finally bring an end to what has been a long mission to adapt Gears of War. The Coalition, the studio behind the popular game franchise also released a statement on Spaihts boarding the project saying:

“We’re thrilled to partner with Jon and the Netflix team to bring ‘Gears of War’ to life. Jon is a master storyteller with a talent for creating epic, science-fiction universes, and he truly loves ‘Gears of War.’ We couldn’t ask for a better partner to honor our franchise and deliver an authentic story to our fans.”

Image via Microsoft

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Will Dave Bautista Be Leading The Delta Squad As Marcus Fenix?
With a writer now set for the adaptation, it won’t be long before we start to receive casting news for the feature film and one name on the minds of many fans is Dave Bautista. In the games, Marcus Fenix is created after the likeness of the Guardians of the Galaxy star, though the character is voiced by voice actor John DiMaggio. Bautista is among the legion of fans the video game has garnered, and he has long had his eyes set on playing Fenix whenever the occasion arises. He recently posted an old promo clip of himself as a reminder to fans that his interest in playing Fenix remains. Fans are in support of seeing Bautista as Fenix and given the actor’s recent relationship with Netflix, it’s looking increasingly likely that his casting might be a possibility, but nothing is official just yet.

Netflix is yet to set a release date for the feature adaptation, however, you can get a feel of Spaihts’ creativity when his upcoming screenwriting work Dune: Part Two drops in theaters on November 3. Check out the trailer for the Spaihts’ first Dune film below: