Video game adaptations are a bit of a mixed bag. Popularized in the early 2000s with the Resident Evil movie series, movie and TV adaptations of video games have been mostly pretty terrible, either trying too hard to go against the source material or taking all the wrong things from it. And while video game adaptations have gotten a little better in recent years, with Uncharted being fine, and Sonic The Hedgehog and its sequel being fun family-friendly movies, they're still not considered nearly as good as their chosen source material. But that could all change with the slate of upcoming PlayStation TV shows.
Though Uncharted wasn't too much of a hit with critics, it was a solid hit at the box office, and never being one to pass up a money-making opportunity, PlayStation is going all-in on video game adaptations. Over the last few decades, PlayStation has managed to create some beloved popular first-party IPs, and that's especially true of the last 10 years or so, with Horizon, The Last of Us, and God of War all being some of the biggest names in gaming right now. But PlayStation isn't just content with those properties being the biggest in the gaming industry, it wants them to be huge in the TV landscape as well.
Every PlayStation TV Show in Development Right Now
After a movie adaptation became stuck in development hell for years and was scrapped, HBO picked up the rights to develop The Last of Us as a TV series. With pre-production beginning in 2020, The Last of Us has been in the pipeline for quite some time now, and fans will finally be able to watch the first episode on January 15, 2023. Though gamers are always skeptical of live-action adaptations, HBO's The Last of Us looks shockingly authentic, nailing the casting, infected design, and general atmosphere of the game, at least based on the few trailers released so far.
In February 2021, a Twisted Metal adaptation was confirmed to be in the works at Peacock. Being produced by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Will Arnett, and Michael Jonathan Smith, Twisted Metal will follow Anthony Mackie's John Doe as he traverses across the wasteland in an attempt to deliver a package, all while having to avoid raiders and marauders along the way. The show wrapped filming in late August of this year, so fans could see it as early as 2023.
Netflix is currently experimenting with partnerships with the gaming industry, partnering with a range of big video game developers and publishers to produce both animated and live-action adaptations. One of Netflix's upcoming projects is an adaptation of Horizon: Zero Dawn. Not much is known about this project yet, with it just having entered pre-production, but it will be helmed by Steve Blackman, the showrunner of Netflix's hit show, The Umbrella Academy.
Dipping into all the streaming services, PlayStation has also just announced that it's working with Amazon to produce a God of War live-action adaptation for its Prime Video streaming service. Much like the Horizon show, no details are available just yet, though an official Amazon description of the show does reveal that it'll largely follow the events of God of War 2018, with Kratos and his son going on a journey to spread his wife's ashes. Back in May of this year, a PlayStation earnings report also mentioned that a Gran Turismo TV series is in development, though an official announcement hasn't happened yet. It's also important to note that a Ghost of Tsushima live-action adaptation is also in the works, though it'll be a single feature-length movie and not a TV series.
