The Witcher series has been one of the most successful gaming franchises - both critically and commercially - in recent years.
Based on the novels by Andrezj Sapokowski, the series follows Geralt of Rivia, a monster-slaying warrior known as a Witcher that's set in a fantasy land that bears a lot of resemblance to Eastern Europe in the medieval age. The latest game in the series, Wild Hunt, sees Geralt trying to keep his soulmate from a roving band of spectral elves that are trying to use her special powers for their own evil ends.
That, of course, is only the surface elements and Sapkowski's writings and the game itself is way, way deeper and will likely be explored in the upcoming series from Netflix.
This isn't Netflix's first foray into adapting videogames either, as it's been confirmed that classic Konami franchise Castlevania is being turned into a dark, adult-orientated animated series with producer Adi Shankar serving as showrunner.
As for The Witcher, it's early days yet and there's no word on who'll be playing Geralt, but it is known that Platige Image - who first broke the news - are working on the series. Platige Image are a Polish VFX company who created the cinematics for the entire Witcher series, with director Tomasz Baginski set to direct episodes of the series as well. As well as this, producer Sean Daniel - who worked on Syfy's The Expanse and the upcoming Mummy reboot with Tom Cruise.
So, thoughts? Netflix is obviously trying to build a series that could conceivably compete with Game Of Thrones, and the world of the games and novels is so rich with characters and events that there's plenty of mileage out of it. It's all in the execution, of course, and the series would have to appeal to everyone - not just hardcore fans of the series. Striking that balance between the two is key, but there looks to be enough weight and creative ability behind this that it should work.
As of now, there's no word on a release date.
