‘Fortnite’ could come to a big screen near you

The Future. Epic Games is reportedly working on an entertainment division that would bring the Fortnite world and characters to film and TV. It’s already staffing up with entertainment veterans and has an ongoing narrative that would make sense for adaptation. With several video game projects in the works all over Hollywood, game adaptations may be the genre trend to take over superhero obsession.

Game expansion
Epic Games wants to break Fortnite out of the phone.

• The company is exploring opening a full-fledged entertainment division.
• This could include a big-budget Fortnite feature film, which is already being talked about.
• Its game engine, Unreal, is already a huge asset in Hollywood… especially in building the sets for virtual productions.

The idea is more than just a blue sky possibility: Epic recently hired Jason McGatlin — formerly VP of Physical Production at Lucasfilm — to run Epic’s Special Projects division. Gatlin has notably produced every Disney Star Wars movie to date. That bodes well.

Character control
Epic’s narrative ambitions come in the midst of a renaissance of video-game adaptations for film and TV (after decades of flops).\

• Ubisoft’s Werewolves Within film adaptation was an indie hit.
• HBO is in the middle of production on an expensive series adaptation of The Last of Us.
• Sony is ramping up its video-game to film and TV pipeline.

But Epic Games is uniquely positioned to create an entire universe around Fortnite — one that spans both active entertainment (video games, physical experiences) and passive entertainment (movies and shows).

Discussing Epic’s goals, Chief Creative Officer Donald Mustard says he hopes to “create the entertainment experience of the future. I think some of that is feeling our way into what feels like it’s going to be a new medium, where it’s this blended entertainment experience that has interactive elements [and] has linear elements to it.”