Bethesda files Fallout TV/film trademarks

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 April, 2009

Plus: Chandler from Friends still single.

Bethesda Softworks recently applied for additional Fallout trademarks to do with "an ongoing television programme" and "motion picture films about a post-nuclear apocalyptic world".

As spotted by Dwell On It (thanks Joystiq), the trademarks were filed on 5th February.

We've contacted Bethesda for comment, but don't expect much. Our guess is the company is safeguarding the brand, rather than actively making a TV show or film. (Update: Bethesda subsequently told Eurogamer it couldn't comment.)

On the plus side, this is a good excuse to point out that Matthew Perry is biased towards Fallout, having told USA Today about his gaming tip for High School Musical actor Zac Efron:

"The biggest advice I had for him was to start playing Fallout 3 instead of Call of Duty 4. It has more of a story."

Apparently Efron "could not figure it out". Re-roll, idiot.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Tyronne #1 3 years ago

    If treated properly, it could be a very good telly series but who knows!

  • the_dudefather #2 3 years ago

    rated 18 due to strong scenes of whackin' and smackin'

  • Cyclone #3 3 years ago

    Potentially yes, but the odds are that it'd turn out a mess. Can anyone really see a black comedy set in a post apocalyptic wasteland being a big crowd puller? Unfortunately I can't.

  • Miths #4 3 years ago

    "If treated properly, it could be a very good telly series but who knows!"

    And if it airs on Fox in the US it could be cancelled after a season or two, even if it's great :). I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a third season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but that seems rather unlikely - even with the new Terminator 4 movie coming next month.
    And I assume Joss Whedon's Dollhouse will be lucky if all 13 episodes will even be aired (admittedly that show took too many episodes to become decent), just like Firefly.

    Given the low ratings for shows like those I mostly blame the viewers though - clearly most morons... ehh, sorry, people will rather just watch one braindead reality show after the next these days. I have a strong feeling a Fallout series would suffer a similar fate.
    Edited by 1 at 20/04/09 @ 09:27

  • crwoody #5 3 years ago

    Jericho anyone?

  • Bangaioh #6 3 years ago

    Should be HBO / Showtime kind of series...

  • kinky_mong #7 3 years ago

    That Chandler Bing is a wise man.

  • Tomo #8 3 years ago

    Is Zac Efron old enough to play Fallout 3?!

  • Ninja_Tino #9 3 years ago

    He is in America. 'Could Fallout 3s story BEEE any better than COD4s?!'

  • Eraysor #10 3 years ago

    Chandler is evidently even more awesome than I thought he was.

  • PierrePressure #11 3 years ago

    I still miss friends.

    There.

    I said it.

  • PlugMonkey #12 3 years ago

    "Given the low ratings for shows like those I mostly blame the viewers though - clearly most morons... ehh, sorry, people will rather just watch one braindead reality show after the next these days. I have a strong feeling a Fallout series would suffer a similar fate."

    Yeah, but you've got to give these shows a chance to build momentum. Not everyone is glued to Ain't It Cool? News to find out what the next hot show is going to be. It's perfectly normal for a TV show to take a couple of seasons to build momentum and for regular folks to even hear about it.

    You look at the huge hit TV shows of that past and wonder how many would have made it in today's climate. X-Files, for example, would probably have got canned before the end of season 1.

  • Cyclone #13 3 years ago

    + 1 for PierrePressure

  • Twin_snakes #14 3 years ago

    2+ for PierrePressure

  • Harmonica #15 3 years ago

    Fallout given the same treatment as shows like Carnivale or Deadwood would be an absolutely fantastic spectacle. Sadly I'm not sure if anyones budget would stretch to doing it justice. Deadwood cost a lot of money, and it only had one location. The location shooting required for a good apocalyptic drama series (ie, what Jericho lacked - they never tackled the nuclear aspect) would put the budget through the roof.
    Edited by 1 at 20/04/09 @ 17:49

  • FWB #16 3 years ago

    Post-apocalyptic TV show full of mutants? Guess there are few people who will be back at work.

  • RedSparrows #17 3 years ago

    zac efron falls ever further in my estimation.

    not that he was anywhere good to begin with.

  • robg #18 3 years ago

    Threads with MIRV Mini-Nuke Launchers?