New Delhi: A live-action series based on the popular battle game PUBG is in the works at Netflix. American actor Donald Glover will lead the series as well as write, direct, and executive produce the series alongside his brother Stephen, who will also be a writer and executive producer on the adaptation.
Released in 2017, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, popularly known as PUBG, became one of the most popular online games worldwide. The game drops players onto an island where they collect weapons, search for supplies and fight opponents until only one player or team remains. As the game progresses, the playable area shrinks, forcing players into increasingly dangerous encounters.
Netflix has not yet announced the storyline, additional cast members or even a release date.
Over the years, adaptations of video games have become increasingly popular in Hollywood. Several filmmakers have turned popular gaming franchises into films and television series. The latest example is Street Fighter (2026), starring Vidyut Jammwal and Noah Centineo.
Netflix has also explored the genre through animated projects such as Arcane (2021), based on Riot Games’ League of Legends, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022), based on the video game Cyberpunk 2077, released in 2020. Another popular fighting game, Tekken, was adapted into the animated film Tekken: The Motion Picture (1998), followed by the live-action film Tekken (2010). Netflix later released the animated series Tekken: Bloodline (2022), which follows Jin Kazama as he trains to avenge his mother’s death.
The Resident Evil franchise, based on Capcom’s survival horror games, became a major Hollywood film series with Resident Evil (2002), starring Milla Jovovich as Alice. The film was followed by five sequels, concluding with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016). Netflix also released a live-action Resident Evil series in 2022, but it was cancelled after one season.
Meanwhile, Sega’s long-running video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog found success on the big screen with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), starring Jim Carrey. The film has two sequels, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024).
Other examples include HBO’s dystopian drama The Last of Us (2023-) starring Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal. It is based on the survival game of the same name by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment. Prior to that, in 2022, Tom Holland starred in the live-action adaptation Uncharted.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)