MOVIE NEWS – Noah Hawley is currently juggling two major FX projects at once, but it now looks like Far Cry is no longer just a name on a development slate. The latest update suggests that the long-awaited video game adaptation has entered hard prep and is expected to begin filming right after work wraps on Alien: Earth Season 2, which is a strong sign that FX is finally pushing the Ubisoft franchise into real production.

The project was first announced last November, when FX confirmed that Far Cry would be developed as an anthology series. That means each season can tell a different story in a different setting with a different cast, much like Hawley’s own Fargo. It is also a structure that fits the source material unusually well, because the Far Cry games have long operated on exactly that principle: new protagonists, new hostile environments, and new power-mad antagonists, all tied together by chaos, survival, and violence.

Hawley is not building it alone. Rob McElhenney is attached as an executive producer and writer, and he is also expected to star in the first season, although details about his role remain under wraps. McElhenney’s connection to gaming is already well established through Mythic Quest, and he also came close to directing the Minecraft movie at one point. Hawley, meanwhile, has confirmed that he will personally direct the first two episodes of Far Cry, which means the series will carry his influence not only in its structure and scripts, but in its visual identity from the very beginning.

Sets Are Already Being Built in London, and the Scripts Are Halfway There

Speaking to Deadline, Hawley said that Far Cry is currently in “hard prep,” which means the project has moved well beyond vague development talk and into concrete production planning. Filming is scheduled to begin after Alien: Earth Season 2 finishes shooting, which is especially notable because it means Hawley will briefly be running two major FX shows at the same time. He even joked about that balancing act, saying he is not afraid yet, though he clearly understands that there will be a moment when managing both series simultaneously will force some very real creative and logistical choices.

The production is already taking physical shape as well. Hawley explained that assets for Far Cry are being built in London, using Pinewood and related facilities, with some overlap in the production footprint of Alien: Earth. The writing is also moving forward at a serious pace: Hawley said most of Alien is already written, while Far Cry is about halfway through the scripting process. That matters because it shows this is not just an announced concept being left to drift. It is something that is actively being assembled into a real television production.

Story details remain tightly guarded, but that is hardly surprising. The Far Cry games do not revolve around one continuous plot or one central character. What they share is a formula that drops players into dangerous locations and forces them to survive both the natural world and the violent systems controlled by charismatic villains. The anthology format is ideal for that. Even now, however, it is still unclear whether the series will directly adapt any of the games or simply build new stories that carry the same DNA. Hawley has previously said that this thematic flexibility is exactly what appeals to him: each entry becomes a variation on a core idea, allowing the show to explore human nature through different forms of chaos each time.

There is still no release date, and the timeline will probably become clearer only once casting details start to emerge and filming actually gets underway. But one thing is already obvious: FX’s Far Cry is not a dead-end adaptation announcement. It is actively moving. And if Hawley brings the same sense of control and thematic sharpness he brought to Fargo, this could end up becoming one of the more serious and interesting video game television projects now in the pipeline.

Source: MovieWeb