Netflix's Gears of War Movie Advances, Marcus Fenix's Actor Still Unknown

The director behind The Fall Guy is reportedly in negotiations to helm Netflix’s highly anticipated Gears of War movie adaptation. According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Leitch, known for directing Atomic Blonde (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Hobbs & Shaw (2019), and Bullet Train (2022), is in talks to take charge of the live-action film based on Microsoft’s popular third-person shooter game.

Leitch will team up with his frequent collaborator, Kelly McCormick, to produce alongside The Coalition, the developers behind the Gears of War franchise. Jon Spaihts, who wrote Dune, is reportedly penning the screenplay.

Netflix acquired the rights to Gears of War over two and a half years ago, but progress seems to be picking up steam. Alongside the movie, an adult animated series is reportedly in development, set to launch following the film. Future adaptations could expand further depending on the success of these initial projects.

A major question surrounding the project is casting. Wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista has openly expressed his desire to play the iconic protagonist, Marcus Fenix, and even has the backing of Gears co-creator Cliff Bleszinski.

This year marks a boom in video game adaptations, with notable releases such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie, A Minecraft Movie, and the Sonic films all achieving significant box office success. Other upcoming adaptations include Uncharted, Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, and more.

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View 50 ImagesIn March, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer emphasized that the underwhelming performance of the Halo TV series wouldn’t deter the company from pursuing further adaptations. Spencer noted that lessons learned from Halo and other projects like Fallout have bolstered Microsoft’s confidence in the space.

“We’re learning and growing through this process, which is giving us more confidence that we should do more,” Spencer stated. “We learned from doing Halo. We learned from doing Fallout. So all of these build on themselves. And obviously we’ll have a couple that miss. But what I’d say to the Xbox community that likes this work is, ‘You’re going to see more, because we’re gaining confidence and we’re learning through this.’”

Meanwhile, The Coalition continues work on the prequel game Gears of War: E-Day, though no release date has been announced yet.