The videogame saga started in 2005, with the first ‘God of War’will become a TV series streaming on Prime Video: Amazon Studios is in fact closing the contract for the adaptation of the saga that brings Greek and Norse mythology to the stage.
‘God of War’ becomes a TV series
Developed by Santa Monica Studio on behalf of PlayStation, the ‘God of War’ franchise now has ten titles (the eleventh is in the works) and can boast enormous success with audiences and critics. It is a saga that mixes action and adventure and that follows the game dynamics of hack and slash: in a nutshell, it is about fighting with melee weapons, dodging opponent attacks and delivering deadly blows. The protagonist is called Kratos, a Spartan warrior who later becomes the god of war, taking over from Ares. His adventures cover two narrative cycles: in the first we see him confronting the pantheon of Greek godswhile in the second it moves within the Norse mythology (and is accompanied by his son Atreus).
According to the scoop launched by the US magazine Deadline, the adaptation in the form of a TV series will be curated by three people: Rafe Judkins (showrunner and executive producer of ‘The Wheel of Time’) and the professional couple formed by Mark Fergus e Hawk Ostby, creators and executive producers of ‘The Expanse’ and Oscar nominees for the screenplay of ‘Children of Men’. Alongside them, representatives of Amazon Studios, Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions will also play a central role.
The golden age of video game adaptations
Just a few years ago video game adaptations were essentially about cinema and most of the time they were products of little value. Recently, however, we are witnessing a change of direction: at the cinema ‘Uncharted’, while not perfect, it has met with the public’s favor, while the world of TV series is moving without saving investments. The announcement of the ‘God of War’ adaptation comes after an HBO series from ‘The Last of Us’ (another prestigious PlayStation title), that of ‘Resident Evil’ for Netflix and that of ‘Halo’ per Paramount+.
For its part, Amazon Studios is concentrating a lot of efforts in this field: a TV series from ‘Fallout’ and one from ‘Mass Effect’. In both cases, they are high-level video games.