Warhammer film and TV show in the pipeline after Games Workshop's Amazon deal

Warhammer, the miniature medieval fantasy table-top game, is to be made into a film and TV programme.

UK firm Games Workshop, which makes the game, said on Friday it has "reached an agreement in principle" for Amazon to develop its intellectual property.

The project will initially involve developing the Warhammer 40,000 universe, it confirmed.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, actor Henry Cavill looks set to star in and executive produce the adaptation.

The news comes just days after he confirmed he will not be returning to play Superman in the DC comics universe.

Last year, Cavill told BBC presenter Graham Norton about his love for Warhammer, a popular fantasy war game where you paint intricate miniature figures, and have them battle each other.

The game is akin to a Dungeons & Dragons - which has its own new movie coming next year, starring Chris Pine - in that dice are involved, but players move the figures around a model-constructed battlefield or world.

The deal is still to be officially confirmed and a further announcement will be made "in due course", the Nottingham-based games company noted.

Founded by friends in London in 1975, as a company selling board games and writing a fanzine for roleplaying adventures, Games Workshop has grown into the dominant player in the miniature wargaming world.

With shops in high streets and shopping malls across the globe Games Workshop is known, in the main, for producing Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar miniature games.

To play, models and terrain need to be assembled and (often with great artistry) painted. They are used on a table-top where friends can then do battle in fantastical worlds, telling stories based on 40 years' worth of rules and backstory, created especially for the games.

Despite its stores being closed during lockdown its sales soared - meaning the company's shares at one point, it's reported, were even outperforming those of Tesla.

However, Games Workshop has been more than just a miniatures company for years. It has its own book publishing division, and there have been many video game adaptations made - in-house anime, deals with Marvel Comics and toy manufacturers - all based upon the worlds created to host table-top battles.

Today's news of a TV series deal is no surprise therefore, because Games Workshop has been carefully leveraging its intellectual property for a long time. Similarly to how comic book houses are no longer just the creators of comics, but have instead taken over Hollywood.

Previous attempts to get a high-end Warhammer adaptation over the line have failed, leaving endless discussion in fan forums and on social media as to who could play the setting's famous characters.

There's a lot of speculation that Warhammer fan Henry Cavill, no longer in-line to continue as Superman on the silver screen, could be a key part of this adaptation. Perhaps there could be roles for other celebrity 40k fans Ed Sheeran and Vin Diesel?

Fans will hope that this isn't another false dawn, and that the creators of this adaptation take good care of worlds that they know and love - despite the Games Workshop depiction of the 41st Millennium being exceedingly grim.

Financial analyst Andrew Wade from Jefferies told the AFP news agency this was "very exciting news" for Games Workshop, whose share price rose on Friday as a result.

"Licensing income has built strongly in recent years, from £2m in full-year 2015 to around £17m in full-year 2023, but we saw a more limited progression ahead, believing that only a major film deal would support another step-change," he said.

"With today's news, that is now a very real possibility.

"Moreover, a mainstream TV/film product could be game-changing in terms of Warhammer's brand reach and awareness."

Elsewhere on Friday, it was also announced the acclaimed 2019 action video game Death Stranding will also be adapted for the silver screen, according to its Japanese creator Hideo Kojima.

In a statement, Kojima, who will produce the film, called the decision "a pivotal moment for the franchise.

The PlayStation and PC game is set in the US following a catastrophic event which caused destructive creatures to start roaming the planet.