Amazon greenlights a Life is Strange series adaptation

With Hollywood video game adaptations surging, it was only a matter of time before Life is Strange got the treatment. After all, even platformer and sandbox game adaptations have (shockingly) found success in this new era. A well-written adventure game seems like a much shorter leap. Amazon announced on Friday that Prime Video has ordered a series based on the 2015 game.

Like Don’t Nod’s classic, the series will blend angsty teenage realism with supernatural elements and moral choices. And Amazon’s teaser synopsis points to a familiar storyline. “The story follows Max, a photography student, who discovers she can rewind time while saving the life of her childhood best friend, Chloe,” the announcement reads. “As she struggles to understand this new skill, the pair investigate the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student, uncovering a dark side to their town that will ultimately force them to make an impossible life-or-death choice that will impact them forever.”

British writer and actor Charlie Covell (End of the F***ing World, KAOS) will chart the series’ creative course. They’ll serve as creator, executive producer and showrunner. Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson will executive produce the show. Square Enix and LuckyChap are all part of the project, too. Amazon MGM Studios will produce it.

Covell wants the series to appeal to both newcomers and fans of the games. “It’s a huge honor to be adapting Life Is Strange for Amazon MGM Studios,” they said in Amazon’s press release. “I am a massive fan of the game, and I’m thrilled to be working with the incredible teams at Square Enix, Story Kitchen and LuckyChap. I can’t wait to share Max and Chloe’s story with fellow players and new audiences alike.”

Amazon has been an eager participant in this new “Video Game Adaptations That Don’t Suck” era. Earlier this week, it announced that Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner will step into Lara Croft’s boots for its upcoming Tomb Raider series. Season two of Prime Video’s acclaimed Fallout arrives later this year. Its first trailer teases the show’s first appearance of the game’s dreaded Deathclaws.

Meanwhile, back in the gaming world, Square Enix is still churning out Life is Strange titles. In 2024, Max returned in Double Exposure, the first direct sequel to the original game’s story. Don’t Nod spun out its own spiritual sequel to the series, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, earlier this year.