EXCLUSIVE: Electronic Arts‘ hit video game Battlefield: Bad Company is headed to the small screen. Fox has put in development Bad Company, an hourlong action comedy based on EA’s bestselling video game from Alias alum John Eisendrath, Sony TV and studio-based Happy Madison.
Written by Eisendrath, Bad Company features the main characters from the game. It follows four renegade soldiers as they exit military life and enter the private sector. But trouble is never far behind as they realize their commanding officer had used them to further the ends of a shadow unit within the government and now wants them dead to cover his tracks. Eisendrath is executive producing with Happy Madison’s Doug Robinson and EA’s Patrick Bach and Patrick O’Brien.
Part of EA’s Battlefield series, Battlefield: Bad Company, a single-player campaign that drops gamers behind enemy lines, was released in 2008 and spawned a sequel two years later. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the story’s humor as well as the game’s technical aspects. (Check out the game’s trailer below.)
This is the third sale this season for ICM Partners-repped Eisendrath, who is under an overall deal at Sony TV. He is executive producing dramas The Blacklist, written by Jon Bokenkam, at NBC; and Dakota at ABC, which he is co-writing with Andrew Chapman. He created ESPN’s Playmakers and NBC’s Outlaw. EA is with UTA.
This is going to be terrible. Sorry.
Things have gotten so bad we’re now turning to video games.
And on Fox…
This have been this bad for a while, as anyone whose watches reality TV can attest.
Sorry, adapting board games into movies was rock bottom for Hollywood. Video games aren’t the problem here.
Really?? “Things have gotten so bad we’re turning to video games.” Get your facts straight, video games have innovated in storytelling in a much greater capacity than any other medium. So before you go putting words out of your mouth, make sure your accurate first.
I dare you try and explain your comment, Daniel.
“Video games have innovated storytelling in a much greater capacity.”
How?
Bad Company actually has the perfect universe and cast of characters for this. I’d watch a show based on it, definitely.
The last time Fox tried an hourlong action comedy, it was The Good Guys. And that was BRILLIANT!!! If this can reclaim the magic from that, I will be satisfied.
Recently played Bad Company and the entire time I played it I thought it would make an awesome movie. Not sure it could sustain a lengthy TV series though. The problem here is that the plot description of the TV series doesn’t match up with the plot of the game. They always wonder why movies based on games rarely work, it’s because they’re rarely actually based on the game, they just take the title and make up some new crap.
This could work for the mini/limited model, but never or FBC.
it’ll be either pretty rad or its gonna suck.
either way it’s probably gonna get cancelled
Better be good. Lol. Cause I’m looking forward to it.
Could be the new “A” Team if done right.
Have already seen this: THE LOSERS!
A TV series? No thanks. I never watch TV so I won’t be watching this.
Now, a web series on the other hand would have been amazing as, let’s face it, that’s the future of TV.
Have you ever played a good video game? I recommend you play the metal gear solid series or even assassins creed and think about what you just replied. Not only that I assure you, you will also give up on movies.
Sorry, bro-ham. Big boys like to actually enjoy life… not live it through it a joystick.
I think I hear your mom calling — it’s bath time.
You mean sit around and watch “reality TV” or “professional” sports? =/ When was the last time you played a video game? Probably when you got beat by a 60+ yr old, that you thought was a kid.
they have advanced storytelling in every way, from the way it is presented to the way it is carried out. You get to immerse yourself in the fiction, and experience it firsthand. There are so many creative ways storytelling has been changed because of gaming. It is the most adaptive and deep medium of entertainment there currently is.
just putting my thoughts out there.
This might just be as bad as Valve making TF2 free to play.
FOX is starting to look and sound like NBC…
It’s time for some new blood.
This will be great or an epic fail. I hope its good though :)
Find a cliff and jump
sounds more like the A-team than bad company John Eisendrath are you sure you weren’t watching reruns of A-team when writing this? hmmm?