Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have shown they can wrangle a large-scale science fiction series with Westworld, and it looks like the two will stay in that lane for another television series based on a beloved video game franchise. Be ready for some post-apocalyptic shenanigans, because Amazon will be the place Nolan and Joy will work on Fallout and potentially bring the apocalypse to streamers worldwide.
Fallout has been a video game franchise since 1997 but exploded in popularity when Bethesda took control of the franchise and released Fallout 3. Since then there have been sequels and spinoffs to the game series, all telling one part of the story of life after the world (which is modeled after 1940s futuristic ideals) was devastated by mass nuclear war in 2077. The games follow various survivors in the post-apocalyptic world as they look to help restore order in what has become a hostile land.
While Fallout is only currently only in development, there's a series commitment penalty that effectively means the show will go directly to series if Amazon likes the scripts. That sounds like the best anyone can hope for at the moment, especially considering the suddenness and surprise of this long-awaited announcement.
As for the television series, Variety reported that Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan intend to keep the game's delicate balance of seriousness and ironic humor intact. One example would be the plots that often revolve around the power struggle of survivor groups to maintain order and govern their respective lands, but also has a handheld weapon in which players can launch a mini-nuke, called Fat Man, at people. It's crazy and unrealistic, but an iconic bit of the games that fans may expect to see in the series.
For any fans of the franchise slightly concerned with how the potential series would be handled, rest assured that Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan will have guidance in this endeavor. Bethesda's Todd Howard, who has served as a game director for the Fallout franchise for years, will join the series as an executive producer along with James Altman from Bethesda Softworks. The Fallout Twitter account released a video for the announcement, complete with the series' trademark phrase "Please stand by."
It should be said right now that for anyone unfamiliar, Westworld is a vastly different world than Fallout. With that said, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have done a good job of crafting the HBO drama's futuristic vibe and have a knack for making interesting robots. All of that should come in handy for developing Fallout for Amazon Studios, and probably win over any skeptics currently wondering how this adaptation will fare. If not there's always the adaptation of The Last Of Us on the way.
Fallout is currently in development at Amazon. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happening in television and movies, and for more on what's happening in Hollywood as the situation in 2020 changes.
