Following the success of its game-to-screen adaptations like Fallout, Amazon Prime Video has set its sights on bringing to life another iconic video game franchise, Square Enix’s time-bending narrative adventure, Life Is Strange.
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, the TV adaptation will be helmed by Charlie Covell, creator of the 2017 British black comedy The End of the F***ing World. Square Enix will also be involved in the upcoming project, alongside production studios Story Kitchen (Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft), Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap Entertainment (Barbie), and Amazon MGM.
“I am a massive fan of the game,” said Covell in a statement to the press, “I can’t wait to share Max and Chloe’s story with fellow players and new audiences alike.”
The Life Is Strange game franchise debuted in 2015, with the original game centred on Max, a socially awkward photography student who discovers that she has the ability to rewind time. Armed with this newfound power, she must solve the mysterious disappearance of a girl named Rachel Amber, unravelling a larger conspiracy along the way and dealing with strange anomalies affecting the town of Arcadia Bay.
The franchise would go on to receive five more titles, including both sequels and spin-offs, with its most recent release being 2024’s Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Each game also followed an episodic format and narrative-focused gameplay, making it a good fit to be adapted onto the small screen, although it remains to be seen how the TV series will portray the games branching choices, and which decisions it will make canon.
The Life is Strange TV adaptation is still in its early phase of development and has not received a release window as of yet, but it will follow the events of the first game, with its logline reading: “As Max struggles to understand this new skill, the pair investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student, uncovering a dark side to their town that will ultimately force them to make an impossible life or death choice that will impact them forever.”
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
