Henry Cavill is attached to star in a series adaptation of Warhammer 40,000 that is in the works at Amazon Prime Video, according to Above the Line‘s very own podcast The Hot Mic, where the news originated.
On the podcast, I said that Amazon was making a play for the rights and looking to attach Cavill, who happens to be a huge fan of the miniature wargame, though I wasn’t sure whether it would be a movie or a series. An hour later, the Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Cavill was indeed attached to star and executive produce what will be a series — Cavill’s first since leaving The Witcher last month in the hopes of reprising his role as Superman.
Those hopes were dashed on Wednesday, however, when Cavill and new DC studios head James Gunn both took to social media to explain that a new actor will play Superman in the character’s next movie.
Warhammer 40K, as it’s often abbreviated, is a dice-based game featuring intricate miniatures that move around a battlefield or other world, a la Dungeons & Dragons. It is particularly popular in England, where Cavill grew up playing it as a young boy. He continues to paint figures, according to reports.
The game is set 40,000 years in the future, when humans are caught in an unending war with aliens and other magical beings, with gods, demons, orcs, elves, and skeleton-like androids also playing a factor.
THR reports that Amazon has actually been in negotiations for Warhammer 40K for months and that Vertigo Entertainment will executive produce the streamer’s adaptation of the game, which is produced by Games Workshop. There are no writers or showrunners attached at this time, and it’s still a ways off, as Amazon has yet to close a deal.
That said, the streamer’s ongoing pursuit of the property suggests it will stop at nothing to get a deal done, particularly with Cavill still hot off The Witcher and the Enola Holmes movies on Netflix, not to mention the lead in Matthew Vaughn‘s upcoming spy movie Argylle. Warhammer 40K may not be his next project, but it’s a strong piece of IP that Amazon could very well invest significant resources in should it manage to close a deal.
Stay tuned, and check out The Hot Mic below for more scoops…
