Bethesda turned down Hollywood’s offers for a Fallout movie or TV show a decade ago, waiting for the “right partner,” thanks to Todd Howard’s vision.

For over a decade, Hollywood had been eager for Bethesda to create a Fallout movie or TV series, but the studio consistently turned down these offers until they found the right team to lead the project. Emil Pagliarulo, a veteran at Bethesda, shared insights on this in a recent interview.

Pagliarulo highlighted that the studio’s reluctance stemmed from their desire to maintain quality, largely thanks to Todd Howard’s influence. “We could have made a Fallout movie or TV show a decade ago; we had certainly been approached. But back then, Hollywood wanted to bring in ‘video game directors’ to handle it,” he explained. “We didn’t want just anyone; we aimed for the best director and showrunner. It was about waiting for the right partnership rather than rushing into something.”

This caution is understandable. While the landscape for video game adaptations has improved significantly in recent years, with successful projects like the Fallout series and HBO’s The Last of Us, a decade ago, the track record was far less promising. The latter part of the 2010s saw a shift with films like Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog paving the way for better adaptations, but prior to that, it was a gamble.

Ultimately, Bethesda struck gold with the showrunners for the Prime Video adaptation, Graham Wagner and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Their collaboration has resulted in a show that has garnered both critical acclaim and commercial success, boasting a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.