Don’t break our hearts, Hollywood.
With the series now eighteen years old and having released several titles I feel it’s time we talked about bringing Fallout to the silver screen. Now, Hollywood has already expressed interest in the franchise – but has yet distributed a film. Perhaps this is a good thing as we want to make sure they do the best possible job on it.
So come fly with me as we discuss ten good reasons why Hollywood should bring our good ‘ol wasteland from the computer and television screen to the big screen.
1. There are many stories to be told
Duck and cover!
In the games over 200 years has passed since the apocalypse and a film would have the creative freedom to take place at any point of the timeline and in any part of the country. Or they could go for the pre-apocalypse era and tale stories of the Resource Wars or the plague that swiped across the series’ setting.
2. The fans have proven it could work
A new empire is on the rise.
Fan made films such as Fallout: Nuka Break – Red Star and Fallout: Lanius have proven that a live-action Fallout movie could work if done right. The key to a successful Fallout movie would be to tell an original story that either fleshes out the backstory of a major character (like Fallout: Lanius) or tell a standalone story unrelated to the events of the games (like Fallout: Nuka Break – Red Star).
3. Introduce new fans
Please stand by.
With a movie you could potentially introduce new fans to the series that have never played the games. If the movie is done well, then this is a great thing for everybody involved – rather you’re a consumer or someone involved in making the series.
4. Show a new angle on the Fallout setting
It could save your life.
The Fallout series has manly always been exclusive to video games, with an exception of a web-comic and graphic novel. A movie will have the advantage of presenting a unique angle that only films could do – tell a much more tightly constructed story. After all, unlike games, films cannot last hundreds of hours and must tell the piece within a certain amount of time; the good side to this is it allows for a more focused work than one that may last 100+ hours.
5. There's a market for post-apocalyptic stories
This is a tale of a man – and his dog.
With the big success of Mad Max: Furry Road post-apocalyptic works are definitely on the spot light – though they may always have been. Before the release of Furry Road, the post-apocalyptic genre was still fairly popular – now it’s even more so.
6. Many different types of stories
Take your pick.
The world of Fallout is a diverse one – especially later down in the timeline. In the series there are many different types of stories you could do rather it’s a personal survival horror story – or a political and war tale of rising organizations seeking power in a region. Or you could do something that’s dark but hilarious at the same time (a tone in kin to Old World Blues).
7. Hollywood has already tried before
They turned Tony Jay into a mutant!
A film adaptation of the original Fallout game has already been planned for a while now – so it is obvious creative teams have interest in exploring the franchise. Should one actually be produced I hope it follows a new story rather than re-tale the story of the game – which I can imagine might bring up some problems.
8. Get to experience the wasteland cinematically
Don’t worry, they know what to do.
I think some of us wondered what the wasteland would look like on the big screen. Through amazingly well done fan films we’ve gotten a taste of what it might be like – but at the end of the day it doesn’t compare to the resources a professionally licensed team could do.
However the quality is really up to how much work they’re willing to do – and what creative decisions they make. If one should be made, let’s hope the team behind it makes the best possible choices creatively.
9. It won't be that expensive to make
He’s here to help defend America.
This one really depends on the direction and scope the team will want to do. If it’s a smaller personal story set during the early years of the apocalypse, then they could produce a film with a concrete budget. If the movie should do well then they can always increase the budget with sequels – should they wish to do so (which is likely).
This would also make sense lore wise because as the timeline advances further – more organizations begin forming – and eventually expanding. At some point it could reach to a situation similar to New Vegas – where you have multiple power house nations fighting in a complex war for power and control of a specific region.
10. It's what the fans wants
Vault Boy gives it his seal of approval.
If done right, I think this is something fans would love to see – and may have been waiting on for a very long time. I think a feature length film done well will be one of the greatest additions to the series – and as stated before there are lots of great things you can do with it.
Tell us what you think vault fans. Comment below and tell what your wish list is for a Fallout movie.
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