Amazon Prime Video dropped the first trailer for its upcoming “Fallout” TV series on Saturday at the CCXP fan event in Brazil, releasing the trailer online at the same time. The post-apocalyptic drama series from “Westworld” creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy is set to premiere on April 12, 2024 in more than 240 countries and territories globally.
Based on the role-playing Bethesda video game series, “Fallout” takes place in the aftermath of a nuclear war. Specifically, it’s set in an alternate history in a 1950s-inspired retrofuturistic world. The two minute and 30 second teaser opens with Ella Purnell’s character, Lucy. Though she acknowledges she’s led a “comfortable life,” in the video’s first few seconds she makes her way out of the bunker and into the nuclear wasteland beyond. It isn’t long before she’s confronted with chaos.
The rest of the teaser bounces between ridiculous imagery and brutal gore as Nat King Cole’s “I Don’t Want to See Tomorrow” plays. One minute, a happy dog is holding a severed arm in its mouth. The next, Walton Goggins’ The Ghoul is gleefully murdering everyone around him.
This tone is in line with the games’ tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Though this is a universe suffering from the aftermath of a nuclear war, Vault-Tec Corporation’s mascot is a smiling blonde boy who’s often seen giving a thumbs up. Even the messaging in the teaser lines up with this tone as the video announces that “Fallout” the series comes from “the studio behind ‘The Boys’ and 2-day free shipping.”
In the first three games, the player’s customizable main character is referred to as some variation of “the Vault Dweller,” but in “Fallout 4” the player assumes the role of “Sole Survivor.” Thanks to the nonspecific game lead, the Prime Video series will include a collection of characters largely unique to the show.
The series will follow Walton Goggins’ character The Ghoul, also known as Cooper Howard. Goggins is best known for his roles in “The Hateful Eight,” “Justified” and “The Righteous Gemstones.” In addition, the series will star Ella Purnell (“Yellowjackets”) as Lucy, Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks”) as Hank, Aaron Moten (“Emancipated,” “Disjointed”) as Maximus, Michael Emerson (“Lost”) as Wilzig and Zach Cherry (“Severance”).
The series also stars Xelia Mendes-Jones, Mike Doyle, Moisés Arias, Johnny Pemberton, Cherien Dabis, Dale Dickey, Matty Cardarople, Sarita Choudhury, Leslie Uggams, Frances Turner, Dave Register, Zach Cherry, Rodrigo Luzzi and Annabel O’Hagan.
The drama is being developed for television by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan through their Kilter Films production company. The two also spearheaded HBO’s “Westworld” until that show’s cancelation and produced Prime Video’s sci-fi series “The Peripheral.”
Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner serve as executive producers,
writers and co-showrunners on “Fallout.”
Athena Wickham of Kilter Films also executive produces, along with Todd Howard for Bethesda Game Studios and James Altman for Bethesda Softworks. Amazon MGM Studios and Kilter Films produce in association with Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks.
The role-playing action game ranks among one of the best selling video game franchises of all time. The fourth installment of the series broke records, shipping more than 12 million copies in one day after its 2015 release.
A fifth “Fallout” game is reportedly in the works. In June 2022 Todd Howard, the game designer, director and producer behind the franchise, said that development on “Fallout 5” would begin after the completion of “The Elder Scrolls VI.” There is currently no date set for its release.
