Universal options rights to make a Gears of War movie

Universal Pictures has evidently optioned the rights to make a movie based on Microsoft Studios' Gears of War game franchise, according to a press release about a Gears of War livestream hosted today by Rod Fergusson, head of Gears dev The Coalition.

It's a fun bit of news, though of course it comes with the notable caveat that a large number of video game properties (think Halo, Tetris, etc.) have been optioned for film, but have not (yet) made it to the silver screen. 

Universal itself has, in the past decade or so, optioned the rights to make movies based on games like Asteroids and Electronic Arts' Army of Two. The status of those projects is unclear.

Microsoft itself only recently picked up the rights to Gears of War, acquiring them in 2014 from series creator Epic Games and building a new studio to continue making Gears games. The studio, now known as The Coalition, is expected to release its latest attempt next week when it launches Gears of War 4.