What’s going on with Prime Video’s Mass Effect TV show? According to a new report, it’s on “the verge” of a series order, but the boss of Amazon TV has allegedly requested rewrites to make it “more appealing to non-gamers.”
The Ankler reports that Peter Friedlander, who stepped in as Head of Global TV, Amazon MGM Studios, in October, has set about reading scripts so he can make firm decisions on Prime Video’s many in-development projects. One of these is Mass Effect, which, based on the report, still sounds like it could go either way.
Friedlander has apparently requested rewrites to make Mass Effect, which The Ankler described as a “pricey genre drama,” more appealing to non-gamers. It is said to be “on the verge” of a series order.
What “more appealing to non-gamers” means in the context of Mass Effect is anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t characterize Mass Effect’s story or characters as particularly hardcore gamer, for want of a better term. On the contrary, I’d say the show’s themes, universe, and fundamentals should appeal to mainstream sci-fi fans without much in the way of tweaking. Maybe Amazon wants to make the Mako easier to make sense of? I wouldn’t blame them for that.
Maybe it’s more about getting away from fan service, or references to the Mass Effect trilogy people who haven’t played the games before might not get. Maybe it’s about distancing itself from the games so it feels unshackled from the events at the end of Mass Effect 3. All I’d say to that is, Amazon’s own Fallout adaptation did a pretty great job of telling a brand new story in the Fallout canon while also keeping fans on-side with video game accurate settings, factions, and characters. I’m sure Mass Effect could do the same.
The last time we heard anything on the record about the Mass Effect show was in November last year, when Mass Effect boss Mike Gamble said the adaptation would focus on an original story rather than rehashing BioWare’s classic trilogy of video games starring Commander Shepard.
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“We’ve been partnering closely with Amazon on [the series], and we’re really excited with what the talented team over there is coming up with,” Gamble said. “The writers room is going strong, and we’ve got a lot figured out about how it fits within the Mass Effect canon, and where it sits in respect to the new game. The show will explore a brand-new story within the universe’s timeline, and will be set after the original trilogy. It won’t be a retread of Commander Shepard’s story — because after all … that’s YOUR story, isn’t it?”
As previously announced, Fast & Furious 9 scribe Daniel Casey is attached as the series’ writer, while Star Trek Beyond and Mindhunter writer Doug Jung is set to serve as showrunner. Gamble and former Marvel Studios producer Ari Arad are executive producing alongside Karim Zreik, previously executive producer on Marvel TV’s Jessica Jones series.
Meanwhile, progress is continuing on Mass Effect 5, which is believed to be set hundreds of years after the original Mass Effect trilogy. An early trailer showed a return for fan-favorite character Liara, now sporting an older look.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
