Donald Glover will direct and star in Netflix’s live-action adaptation of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), with his brother Stephen Glover joining him to write and executive produce the series. Krafton, the company behind PUBG, announced the project on October 29th, according to Variety’s report on the adaptation.
The announcement comes as successful video game adaptations prompt more projects to follow. The source writer found PUBG an unexpected choice, but the newly revealed details, including the Glover brothers’ involvement, made the project compelling to them.
Donald Glover, known for Atlanta and Community and formerly known as Childish Gambino, adds another directing and acting project to his multimedia career. Stephen Glover’s credits include Atlanta and Swarm.
The brothers aren’t working alone. Also involved are Michael Shaefer of Neon TV, whose credits include Anora and Parasite; Fam Udeorji for Gilga; and Taeseok Jang and Sujin Lee from Krafton’s LV3H entertainment division.
Krafton hammered out the agreement with Netflix after lengthy negotiations, with Netflix bringing the Glovers into the project. Donald Glover previously had an exclusive deal with Amazon MGM Studios, but the renewed agreement allows him to work with other studios.
Krafton has also expressed interest in turning PUBG into a franchise with spin-offs. Whether it intends Netflix to become the permanent home of the intellectual property is still unclear.
PUBG joins several other Netflix game adaptations in development. The streamer has a live-action Assassin’s Creed series and a Gears of War film on the way, alongside animated series based on Magic: The Gathering, Clash of Clans, and Minecraft. There’s also a cooking competition show based on Overcooked, the challenging but fun party game.
