The battle against the Third Reich is getting a fresh reboot, as Amazon MGM Studios teams up with Kilter Films and Patrick Somerville for a live-action TV adaptation of the iconic video game series ‘Wolfenstein’.
Exact plot details are currently under wraps, but the official logline doesn’t hold back, simply teasing: “The story of killing Nazis is evergreen.” That definitely sets the tone.
Patrick Somerville (Station Eleven, Maniac) is on board as creator, writer, executive producer, and showrunner via his chaoticgood.tv banner. He is joined by Jonah Nolan, Lisa Joy, and Athena Wickham, who will executive produce through Kilter Films. That’s the same crew currently blowing up Prime Video with the hugely successful Fallout adaptation. Also executive producing are James Altman of Keyframe Films and Jerk Gustafsson from Wolfenstein developer MachineGames.
For those unfamiliar, Wolfenstein is one of the granddaddies of the first-person shooter genre. While it began with a top-down perspective in 1981’s Castle Wolfenstein and its 1984 sequel Beyond Castle Wolfenstein, the franchise hit the big time with Wolfenstein 3D in 1992. Since then, the series has followed grizzled American soldier William “B.J.” Blazkowicz, who regularly takes on hordes of Nazis and stumbles upon their bizarre occult experiments and supernatural shenanigans.
There have been 14 entries in the Wolfenstein series so far, with the most recent being the VR title Cyberpilot. The games are currently developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks.
This isn’t the first time a live-action version has been attempted. A movie adaptation was reportedly in the works back in 2012, but it never made it past development. Now, with the success of shows like Fallout and The Last of Us, the gaming-to-TV pipeline is hotter than ever.
This project would mark another major video game adaptation for Amazon. In addition to Fallout (renewed through Season 3), they are also developing shows based on Mass Effect and God of War, along with tabletop game Warhammer 40,000, which is being developed in partnership with Henry Cavill (The Witcher). A lifelong Warhammer geek, Cavill personally helped secure the rights from Games Workshop and is executive producing (and expected to star in) what’s planned to be a full cinematic universe.
Somerville, much like Cavill with Warhammer, is a lifelong fan of Wolfenstein, and brings an impressive pedigree. Alongside Station Eleven and Maniac, he has writing credits on The Leftovers, The Bridge, and 24: Live Another Day. He is also a published novelist, with titles like The Cradle and The Bright River.
If all goes well, Wolfenstein could be blasting its way to your screen in the not-so-distant future. You can read more in the original exclusive from Variety.
‘Wolfenstein’ is currently classed as in development so may, or may not, make it to series. We’ll let you know when we hear more!
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