‘Alan Wake’ and ‘Control’ video game universe is coming to movies and TV

The Alan Wake adaptation is back on track, though the plans for it are now much more ambitious.

Both the Alan Wake games and spinoff installment Control are being adapted into movies, TV, and other audiovisual formats with Annapurna, which Entertainment Weekly previously revealed was already at work adapting the video game Stray.

“At Remedy, our primary focus continues to be what we do best — crafting industry-defining video games that have earned us global recognition,” reads a statement from Remedy Entertainment CEO Tero Virtala. “Now, the time is right to expand the reach of Remedy’s beloved franchises to an even broader global audience through film, television, and more. In Annapurna, we have found an outstanding partner who shares our ambition and passion for immersive storytelling. We are excited to see them bring the universes and characters we have created to life in new mediums, thanks to this unique deal.”

Gaming studio Remedy launched the horror survival game Alan Wake in 2010 with a story about the titular novelist who seeks to solve the mysterious disappearance of his wife while on vacation and figure out why the characters from his literary works are coming off the page to stalk him in real life. The title gained a cult-like status over the years.

Remedy then launched Control in 2019, about Jesse Faden, the newly appointed director of the Federal Bureau of Control, a secret government organization that monitors supernatural activity. Armed with telekinetic abilities, Jesse investigates the Bureau’s headquarters when it’s taken over by a malevolent force. Control revealed itself to be a secret spinoff to Alan Wake, before Remedy then released a formal sequel, Alan Wake II, in 2023.

All the games are now referred to as installments of the Remedy Connected Universe, which will now continue with Control 2. As part of the new deal, Annapurna will also co-produce and co-finance the new game.

This development comes years after an Alan Wake TV series was announced for AMC in 2018. During an interview with EW while promoting Alan Wake II in 2023, Sam Lake, a creator behind the games, said of the adaptation, “The whole strike thing stopped everything,” referring to the Hollywood actors and writers strikes. “It has been a long, long road and really, unfortunately, I don’t have anything at the moment to add to the news that, yeah, it has been very slow going. But definitely we have a lot of interest in that and we’re right now focusing on the game part.”

For Thursday’s announcement, Hector Sanchez, President of Interactive and New Media at Annapurna, said, “This deal with Remedy isn’t just about adapting great games — it’s about breaking new ground in how companies can collaborate. By backing Remedy’s move toward self-publishing, we’re putting our faith in their vision. We know from experience that Remedy is a first-class games development partner, and we’re excited to share their work with an even wider audience by bringing the Control and Alan Wake universes to film, television, and beyond.”

“The way we tell stories is changing,” Annapurna CEO Megan Ellison said in a statement. “Today people fall in love with characters and universes, not formats, and we’re excited to leverage Remedy’s beloved, immersive narratives in these new mediums.”