Prime Video’s Fallout TV show is out there enjoying a great run. After being surprise dropped by the makers on Amazon’s streaming service on April 10, 2024, the show instantly became a fan-favorite. Directed and produced by famed director Jonathan Nolan and his wife Lisa Joy along with Bethesda Game Studios.
The TV show based on Bethesda’s famous game franchise Fallout by Todd Howard was critically acclaimed for being better than expected. While taking inspiration from the game, the show perfectly introduces its uniqueness and blends the two flawlessly. The eight episodes of the show display how much effort must have gone into making the show.
Fallout TV Show‘s attention to detail surprised Todd Howard
During an interaction with The Guardian ahead of the game’s launch, Howard recalled spending time on the set of the Prime Video series. He shared that he noticed the practical effects that littered the iconic Vaults of Fallout.
He revealed that when he got to the sets, he expected that there would be more movie magic, but the production team had “literally just built a multi-level Vault.” He added,
“They obsessed over everything. I went into the overseer’s office, I sat down at the desk and there was a stack of papers, and someone had written out a note – then I turned it over and there was a report on the power in the Vault. They even got a real jetpack in there!”
The show’s director intervened at the mention of the jetpacks and shared,
“That was the point where I nearly lost the support of the producers. I just thought it would be better if we had a real jetpack.”
During an interview with GamesRadar+ the show’s lead actress Ella Purnell, who plays protagonist Lucy, had also mentioned that the show’s attention to detail was insane and it helped her get “better at her job”.
Apart from the jetpacks and the overall environment, the makers also paid special attention to the costumes and looks of the characters, which took them hours to put on and take off.
Todd Howard rejected several Fallout TV and movie adaptations
During the same interview with The Guardian, Howard also revealed how he spoke about making a TV show or movie adaptation of Fallout but ended up rejecting them before finalizing things with Nolan. He said,
“I talked to a lot of people about doing a Fallout movie or TV show and I kept saying no to everybody. I loved the work that Jonah had done in movies and in TV, and in a couple interviews he did, he mentioned his love of games … I said to somebody, he’s perfect. I’ve decided. Can someone reach out? We met and fortunately we clicked. You could tell he knew Fallout really well.”
Notably, the meeting between the two makers happened in 2019. A time when there were no decent video game adaptations being made. There had been adaptation attempts but almost all of them failed and succumbed to ill-fate. Additionally, Todd also revealed how he never imagined Fallout as a movie. He shared,
“In 2019, my view was that it’s hard to translate a game because a lot of games are about a specific character that you have played. But for me, it’s the world of Fallout that is the character … People always wanted to condense Fallout 3 or 4 into a two-hour experience and I always felt, nah. But prestige TV can tell a long story.”
Thankfully, the adaptations of games into TV shows is in a better place now, and the curse of ill-fate does not exist anymore. And Prime Video’s Fallout TV series stands as a testament to it.
