If you thought there were way too many video game adaptations already, buckle up because the train isn't stopping anytime soon. There's a Silent Hill movie in theaters, though one you might want to pass on watching, the Super Mario Galaxy movie is coming in April, and both Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat movies are coming in 2026.
Elsewhere, work is underway on Season 3 of The Last of Us, and the Season 2 finale of Amazon Prime's Fallout adaptation is set for later this week. In other words, it's a lot, and there's still so much more to come, including a “Steal A Brainrot” movie.
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However, not everything is suitable for TV or film, and former Bethesda lead designer Bruce Nesmith has warned against taking The Elder Scrolls and turning it into a live-action adaptation.
In an interview with digital PR agency Press Box PR, and first spotted by GamesRadar, Nesmith explained what makes Fallout so compelling as an adaptation and why it just wouldn't work for Skyrim or any other TES title.
To put it simply, Fallout as a franchise and world is so “unique” that it only works outside of games. The Elder Scrolls, meanwhile, is one of several fantasy properties.
“I also think there's something very special and different and unique about Fallout that lends itself to being a TV or movie experience, whereas The Elder Scrolls is trying to be a mainstream kind of fantasy,” Nesmith said. “It's not as interesting, not in this day and age where you already have Lord of the Rings movies. We have Game of Thrones. You have to try to find something to lean into that would be special about that.”
Nesmith further explained how “there's nothing” like Fallout anywhere else. It's part of what makes the wait for a new Fallout game so excruciating and why Season 2 once again had players begging for a new game.
“It makes it easy to do a TV show and draw eyeballs as opposed to going into a fantasy world where I have elves and people casting spells around. You'd have to raise those stakes. There's a dragon? I've seen dragons 20 times before. What are you giving the viewers that's new?
That said, Nesmith thinks a movie would probably fit things better, and with the right hook, it makes a lot of sense.
For his part, Todd Howard said in 2024 that he has shot down several pitches for The Elder Scrolls on TV. But a year later, and Fallout on Prime even more popular, he said there is a “path” to an Elder Scrolls adaptation, one that seemingly became clearer after Fallout's impact.
- Released
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November 11, 2011
- ESRB
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M for adults 17+ due to blood and gore, intense violence, sexual themes, use of alcohol
- Developer
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Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher
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Bethesda Softworks
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