14 DAY TRIAL // Bethesda has filed trademark applications related to Fallout and filmed entertainment. The trademarks refer specifically to “entertainment services in the nature of an on-going television program” and “motion picture films about a post-nuclear apocalyptic world.” Hey, even the trademarks sound interesting, so someone better start creating scripts based on Fallout.
The fact that Bethesda has trademarked the rights has only surfaced recently as part of documentation that also hints that the company and Interplay might end their agreement related to the Fallout MMO. When the rights to the Fallout franchise were bought by Bethesda, Interplay retained the rights to develop a MMO, but only if it met certain deadlines for the beginning of work on the project and for financing. It seems that Interplay missed the dates that were agreed on, so Bethesda might soon have the rights to the MMO as well.
Pete Hines, who is the vice president in charge of public relations at Bethesda, has told Shacknews that the trademarks are somewhat preemptive, stating that “And I can tell you, we've gotten a ton of interest about those kinds of things, not just with Fallout, but over the years. And it was just a, 'Let's make sure that we're protecting what is ours and not letting somebody else do anything with it.' So it's more of that, and it is not in response to any specific project or initiative or anything in particular.”
Which means that there are now no clear plans from anyone to create a Fallout television series, tracking the exploits of the survivors of a nuclear exchange. Still, the idea is good enough for a series, especially as television seems to lack good science fictions series at the moment. Let's hope that Bethesda will be open to bringing Fallout to the TV screen and maybe to the cinema.