Rumors have cropped up now and again that a Twisted Metal TV series was being considered at PlayStation, but now it looks to be be official. Coming from Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions, the live action Twisted Metal TV series is being written by Deadpool and Zombieland writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The series will take a dark action comedy approach as an original adaptation of the classic PlayStation car combat franchise.
Variety describes the premise as following a “motor-mouthed outsider” who must deliver a package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland in order to have a shot at a better life. “With the help of a trigger-happy car thief, he’ll face savage marauders driving vehicles of destruction and other dangers of the open road, including a deranged clown named who drives an all too familiar ice cream truck.” Of course that clown is Sweet Tooth himself, though the premise makes no mention of Calypso granting twisted wishes or the deadly destruction derby being a grand competition, so it will be interesting to see how many liberties the TV series takes with this new take on the popular franchise.
“Twisted Metal is one of the most beloved franchises from PlayStation,” said head of PlayStation Productions Asad Qizilbash. “We are thrilled to have such a great team working on bringing this iconic game to life for the fans.”
Cobra Kai writer Michael Jonathan Smith is also writing on the series, as well as executive producing with Reese and Wernick. Will Arnett will executive produce through his Electric Avenue production company, alongside Marc Forman and Peter Principato of Artists First. To round out the table of executive producers, Qizilbash and Carter Swan of PlayStation Productions will join, with Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios making sure the series has adequate representation from the platform. Twisted Metal is, after all, a beloved PlayStation classic, and ensuring adherence to what people love about the franchise while offering a new perspective is important.
Variety mentions speculation that Arnett could voice Sweet Tooth in the series, though notes that a source says no deal is in place at this time.
“We love Twisted Metal in all its twisted insanity,” said executive vice president of comedy development for Sony Pictures Television, Glenn Adilman. “Michael Jonathan Smith hit it out of the park with an action-packed, brilliantly funny adaptation and we are grateful for the support of Rhett, Paul, Will and our friends at PlayStation.”
This is the second major feature series coming from PlayStation Productions and Sony Pictures TV, the first being The Last of Us HBO series, which sees Craig Mazin directing, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey starring as the lead duo, Joel and Ellie respectively.
PlayStation Productions also has the Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake, coming early next year. And in other video game adaptations, Gearbox is currently working on a star studded Borderlands live action film, with the likes of Cate Blanchett, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Jamie Lee Curtis attached to major roles.
Twisted Metal doesn’t currently have a network or distribution platform attached, and there is no release date or window at this time.
The push to adapt a Twisted Metal franchise into a live action series is a curious one. While the car combat series was immensely popular on the original PlayStation, as well as the darker PS2 follow-up, Twisted Metal: Black, the last game release was 2012’s Twisted Metal on the PS3, a game that controversially changed the structure of the series’ usual character-based story mode. Could the renewed interest in the franchise with a TV series mean a future Twisted Metal game is to come on PS5? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[Source: Variety]
