The “God of War” TV series adaptation at Amazon is starting from scratch.
Variety has confirmed that series showrunner and executive producer Rafe Judkins and executive producers Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus have departed the project. They had reportedly completed multiple scripts for the series but Amazon and fellow studio Sony Pictures Television decided to go in a different creative direction.
Santa Monica Studio’s studio creative director Cory Barlog remains onboard as an executive producer, as do Playstation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan, Santa Monica Studio’s Yumi Yang and Vertigo’s Roy Lee
Amazon and Sony will now look to hire a new showrunner and assemble a new writers’ room to start fresh on the project. The show was originally ordered to series at Amazon Prime Video in 2022.
Based on the massively popular 2018 video game developed by Santa Monica Studio, the show follows Kratos, the God of War, who, “after exiling himself from his blood-soaked past in ancient Greece, hangs up his weapons forever in the Norse realm of Midgard, per Amazon’s description. “When his beloved wife dies, Kratos sets off on a dangerous journey with his estranged son Atreus to spread her ashes from the highest peak — his wife’s final wish. Kratos soon realizes the journey is an epic quest in disguise, one which will test the bonds between father and son, and force Kratos to battle new gods and monsters for the fate of the world.”
The show is a co-production between Amazon Studios and Sony Picture Television. Judkins remains under an overall deal with Sony, where he will focus on new development. He remains showrunner on “The Wheel of Time” series adaptation at Prime Video, which is going into its third season.
Deadline first reported the executive producer exits.
