They’re still trying to make a Gears of War movie and now David Leitch is involved

Netflix is looking to David Leitch to direct its Gears of War film, with the two parties currently in negotiations, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Outside of helming the film, the Deadpool 2 director and his wife, Kelly McCormick, are attached to the film as producers through their company 87North Productions.

The outlet also reports that Jon Spaihts, known for his work on Dune, Doctor Strange, and Prometheus, is penning the Gears of War script and first signed on to the project two years ago.

“Gears of War is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world, and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates,” Spaihts told Netflix in 2023. “It wants to be cinema, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help that happen.”

Netflix first acquired the movie rights in 2022, partnering with The Coalition, the devs currently responsible for the third-person shooter series. The streaming giant is hoping to crank out an ambitious movie and an adult animated series, “with the potential for more stories to follow.”

Not to throw sand in the gears, but Gears of War has had a tough go at making the leap to the big screen over the past 18 years. Gears was first announced as an in-development film in 2007 at New Line Cinema. Len Wiseman, who recently wrapped up Ballerina, was attached to the project at the time.

Original Gears of War design director Cliff Bleszinski asserted the movie was stuck in development hell in 2011 after it suffered from intense budget cuts. In 2012, the Creative Artists Agency began shopping the film around after it was placed in turnaround at New Line Cinema. In the turnaround process, a studio recoups its development costs by selling development rights to a separate party.

The Gears of War movie found a lifeline in 2013 after Scott Stuber was linked to the film to develop a script and produce alongside Epic Games. With the new producer in the bag, Microsoft and The Coalition found a new home for the Gears movie at Universal Studios in 2016. No other details regarding a director were announced at the time. But then, a year later, Universal announced it had found its screenwriter in Shane Salerno, a writer known for Armageddon and, most recently, Avatar: The Way of Water.

Flash forward to 2022 and Netflix controls the Gears of War movie rights. Netflix has already listed its ambitious plans for the long-in-development project. We just need to see if the film actually materializes — or if we’ll be writing about this again in 10 more years.