Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski had tuned down a proposal for a PG-13 movie based on the franchise back when he was still the creative lead.
Speaking during an interview on with YouTuber Xbox Expansion Pass, Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski stated that he had once turned down an offer to make a toned down, less violent movie based on the gore-filled video game series. In his reasoning behind his decision, he said that Gears fans wanted to see the chainsaw, and they wanted to see Locusts getting cut in half, but that would make it rated R. On the other hand, the people involved in making the movie wanted to make a less violent, PG-13 version, and he simply could not agree with this direction.
Bleszinski stated that the Gears movie had both Legendary Pictures and New Line Cinema involved, which had led to problems. He added that, back then, a movie based on a video game was unproven territory, unlike now where we have a successful TV series based on The Last of Us and also a Mario movie featuring Chris Pratt.
Back then, people in Hollywood didn’t see an R rated movie with blood and gore making enough money, especially if it would have a lot of CG and lavish sets, which is why they wanted to go the PG-13 route with the Gears of War movie.
The Gears creator said that the series is ultimately about the shotgun and the iconic chainsaw. He said that there were two screenwriters, one of whom wrote the movie Collateral, and the other was one of the writers in Fast and the Furious. Each had their own take on the movie adaptation for Gears, and, eventually, the idea was simply to make somewhat along the lines of a western movie.
In the end, the proposal didn’t materialize into a Gears of War movie. However, fans need not be disappointed, as, years later, Netflix is now working on an animated series based on the franchise in partnership with The Coalition.
