Mortal Kombat movie writer Greg Russo is officially writing, directing and executive producing a System Shock TV series adaptation for Binge. Originally developed by LookingGlass Technologies and published by Origin Systems, the first-person action game put players in the shoes of a nameless hacker as they make their way through a cyberpunk-inspired space station in the far future of 2072. The player is tasked with stopping the plans of rogue artificial intelligence SHODAN from unleashing a virus on Earth that turns humans into mutated cyborgs.
System Shock received rave reviews upon its release and paved the way for the cyberpunk subgenre in action-adventure video games, though was a financial underperformer, losing LookingGlass money. Despite this, LookingGlass would forge on ahead with a sequel five years later, co-developing the project with future Bioshock developer Irrational Games and publisher Electronic Arts. System Shock 3 has languished in development hell for over 6 years now, but while fans of the franchise are awaiting word on the next chapter of the video game franchise, they do have something else to look forward to in the near future.
A few months after the series was first announced to be in the works, it has officially been announced that Mortal Kombat movie writer Greg Russo has been tapped to pen the System Shock TV adaptation. The show is currently set at future streaming platform Binge, with Russo attached to also executive produce and direct alongside Binge producer Allan Ungar and Nightdive Studios' Stephen Kick and Larry Kuperman. Russo wrote about the series in the following statement:
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to work alongside the fantastic team at Binge and Nightdive Studios to bring the iconic System Shock franchise to life. I’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to make my directorial debut, and I finally found it.”
News of a development on the System Shock TV show was first announced in late 2021 at the forthcoming streaming platform Binge, which is strictly focusing on video game adaptations. Alongside the cult classic action-adventure game, the streaming platform is currently working with Crytek for a live-action adaptation of Hunt: Showdown and Ubisoft Film & Television for an adaptation of Driver, the latter of which had been in the works for 20 years as a film with a variety of filmmakers attached, including Resident Evil's Paul W.S. Anderson. The System Shock series does have the unique perspective as one of the rare TV video game adaptations, with HBO currently filming their Last of Us series while Paramount+ is gearing up to air their Halo series later this year.
Though the Mortal Kombat movie received generally mixed reviews from critics, it proved to be a hit with audiences for its translation of Ed Boon's games to the screen and set the record for HBO Max's most-streamed movie to get a day-and-date release. Russo's success in bringing Mortal Kombat to film should create some promising anticipation for the System Shock TV series, namely as Binge seeks to focus on properly adapting fan-favorite video games into shows. With writing now confirmed to be underway on the show, news on the System Shock series will continue to roll out in the coming months from Binge.