Amazon Strikes Deal With Games Workshop to Bring Warhammer to Screen -- Second Update

By Michael Susin

Amazon Content Services struck an agreement with Games Workshop Group to develop movies and television series based on the U.K. company's popular Warhammer 40,000 game.

The licensing of Warhammer 40,000--a miniature tabletop space wargame--comes a year after the British company first said it was in talks to team up with Amazon.

The deal hands Amazon exclusive rights to Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe, set in the distant 41st millennium where humans and aliens collide. Amazon and Games Workshop will be working for a year to thrash out a set of guidelines for movies and television series to be developed by the U.S. company.

Like Dungeons & Dragons--a game that was also made into a media franchise--Warhammer 40,000 incorporates miniature models, adding a visual element to gaming experience.

Games Workshop said the deal includes the option to license equivalent rights in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. The game is especially popular in the U.K. & Europe and North American markets, with regional sales for fiscal 2023 representing 190 million pounds and 189.5 million pounds ($241 million and $240.3 million), respectively, from a total of GBP445.4 million.

A team of screenwriters is currently being assembled to bring the Warhammer universe to the screen, which will be lead by the British actor Henry Cavill as executive producer, the company said on its community website. Cavill is known for his key role as Geralt of Rivia in the series The Witcher and Charles Brandon in The Tudors.

However, Games Workshop warned that it might take a while before its fans see any content.

"It's not unusual for projects to take two to three years from this point," it said.

-- Anthony O. Goriainoff and Mauro Orru contributed to this article.

Write to Michael Susin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 18, 2023 10:06 ET (15:06 GMT)

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