While a live-action Fallout TV or movie may have seemed like a no-brainer idea to many, for the studio, Bethesda, and its executive producer, Todd Howard, it has been a journey that has taken well over 10 years. In fact, ever since the studio hit it big with Fallout 3, the idea of a live-action Fallout movie and TV series was one that quickly ran across the minds of countless filmmakers and production teams. Yet despite the heavy interest, it wasn’t until recently that Todd Howard and the team finally decided it was time, and that, in part, was all due to finding the right person for the project.
That person is Jonathan Nolan, the co-creator of the Westworld TV series who will serve as Fallout’s executive producer. He also co-wrote, with his brother Christopher Nolan, the incredible Batman trilogy and Interstellar. An impressive portfolio of work, all of which are major hits, that have garnered millions of fans. One of those fans happened to be Bethesda’s executive producer, Todd Howard.
As Todd explained during an exclusive press event MP1st attended, his being a fan of Jonathan’s work helped convince them to go forward with a live-action, and apparently, he and Jonathan hit it off immediately when the team reached out about the project.
“Well, first, people would approach us over, I would say, a 10-year period after Fallout 3 came out, you know, from 2009 on, to adapt Fallout to film or television. And we took a very cautious approach, and Jonah was somebody I was such a fan of the movies he did and the TV he was doing, and I had someone reach out. When I first talked to Jonah, I mean, honestly, it was like someone I had known for a long time, you know, obviously played the games a ton, and his approach, right from the get-go, was in sync with what I was thinking. Look, this is a creative endeavor, and having partners that you trust and can really bring something new to it, make it authentic, the world of Fallout.
Present that to the screen in a new way, but in an authentic way when you see it, and it’s been a great, great collaboration, and everybody on this stage and what they’ve done. You know, for someone like me and the team here at Bethesda, it’s just a real blessing to see what they’ve done with it.”
Todd is not joking about Jonathan Nolan playing the games either, as Jonathan recounts the time he played Fallout 3.
“I think it started, for me, with Fallout 3, which devoured about a year of my life. You know, I was an aspiring young writer at that point. It almost derailed my entire career. It’s so ludicrously playable and fun. No, I mean, seriously, the games were just incredible.
It’s such a rare thing and such an unbelievable thing, and I’ve gotten to do it twice in my career, to take something that you love and get a chance to play in that universe, to create, your own version, I guess, of that universe. The first go-round for me was Batman, and this time with Fallout, a game that I absolutely love, a series of games that I absolutely loved. About five years ago, Todd and I went and had lunch together, it was a bit of a fanning-out moment for me, and just started talking about the possibilities of how you could take this incredible universe.
I think one of the things that’s so powerful about the Fallout series is that every game is a little different. Different characters, a different setting, and a different look into this extraordinary universe. And so, we came out of that lunch with a handshake deal that we were gonna try to make this work.”
Fallout will debut exclusively on Amazon Prime on April 11, with all eight episodes available on the same day. If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the newest trailer for Fallout!