Amazon MGM Studios now has the reins of a video game series that everyone found so beloved: “Mass Effect.” Daniel Casey, known for his work on F9: The Fast Saga, is writing and will executive produce the series with Cedar Tree Productions’ Karim Zreik and heavy hitters in the industry, Ari Arad and Michael Gamble, at Electronic Arts (EA).
It even represents a big step forward in using Mass Effect’s rich and detailed universe in its native world rather than gaming to forge a new relationship with the series’ best-loved characters and storylines for a whole new audience, as well as long-time fans.
Mass Effect TV series in the works at Amazon MGM Studios
First released in 2007, Mass Effect is a title that combines an immersive story focused on Commander Shepard’s struggle against an alien force to save humanity, which has gripped audiences since its release that year. It’s been tried before to bring Mass Effect to the big screen without success. Now, with Amazon MGM Studios‘ backing, this TV adaptation will hopefully meet fan demand and give the game’s sprawling story the opportunity to be told in full, episodic 90 minutes or less.
Team creatives on the project are experienced in the industry. Daniel Casey, with a background in sci-fi storytelling, will play a central role in how the show will tell its story. Karim Zreik is another Marvel TV vet who is in on this, with credits on shows like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and who brings knowledge of how to turn action-packed stories into easy-to-follow television fare.
Ari Arad, whose resume includes work on Borderlands and Uncharted adaptations, rounds out the executive producers. He promises to bring his skillset to a live-action series based on Mass Effect’s multi-layered world.
Plot details are still being kept under wraps. Still, it’s safe to say the adaptation will have plenty of material to pull from within the deep lore of the Mass Effect universe, which includes various games, an animated film, novels, and comics. And as fans wait for the updates, this Mass Effect adaptation seems to be setting itself up nicely as a major first step in the game-to-TV adaptations, a franchise that Amazon MGM Studios plans to bring alive in the form of a series that honors the legacy.
Image credit: EA/Mass Effect
