Unannounced Xbox Film/TV Adaptations Hinted At By Studio Head

Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty has teased that Microsoft has additional film/TV projects based on its franchises in the works beyond those that have been announced. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Booty listed off upcoming projects like season 2 of the Halo TV series, the Minecraft movie with Jason Momoa, and the Gears of War film from Dune writer Jon Spaihts. Microsoft’s Fallout series is also getting a TV show from Westworld’s creators.

But beyond that? Booty said “There are some things that we’ve got going on as well that I can’t, you know, they’re not public yet, but there’s a lot there.”

Booty’s comments came in response to a question about if Microsoft could make a film or TV adaptation of Starfield. Booty said he had nothing to announce, but said that in general, Xbox needs to make great games first.

“The thing for us that’s important, and I think what our game teams would say, is that you have to go prove out the game first before you can go explore movies and TV, right?” he said.

Booty also pointed out how making games and creating film and TV are quite different, because with games, a lot of the “iteration” takes place at the end. A film or TV script, meanwhile, is usually locked down prior to shooting.

“Games are very different in that we have to build so much before we even know what we’ve got and before we can start iterating, and so I think our teams just want to make sure that first and foremost, we’ve built a great game, that we’ve found something that resonates with game players,” he said. “And then that gives us permission to then go and explore, does that IP or is that franchise capable of going on [to be a film or TV show]?”

Years ago, Microsoft had even bigger and bolder plans for the film and TV space. It created an entire division called Xbox Entertainment Studios and had a number of projects in the works before it was closed down in 2014 as part of a wider restructuring.