It’s a matter of choice between life and death in Amazon Prime’s upcoming TV adaptation “Life is Strange”.
Nearly a year after the official announcement, Amazon Prime has slowly built its production to transform the beloved hit game that took the internet by storm.
The series will bring the emotional choices, complex characters and supernatural mystery of the original game to the small screen for a new audience.
Sleeper hit turns storytelling darling
Developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by Square Enix, “Life is Strange” is an episodic adventure game that puts the progression of the story into the hands of the player by giving them the chance to choose what happens.
The twist? The protagonist can rewind time through photos, influencing the past, the present, and the future.
You play as Max, a photography student who discovers she has the power to go back in time while saving the life of her childhood best friend, Chloe.
From there, the two must work together to uncover a mystery plaguing the town.
But as they dig deeper, they come to realise that every decision leads to events that could change their lives forever.
“Life is Strange” has captured hearts since its release with its visual storytelling, heartfelt soundtracks, and a time-loop mechanic that forces the player to ruminate on the choices they have made and will have to make.
It garnered several awards — including the BAFTA Story Award in 2016 — and has since birthed several games in the franchise, the most recent of which was “Life is Strange: Reunion,” released just this year.
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Fresh faces join cast
Amazon Prime has already unveiled some of the major cast members for the series, with Maisy Stella and Tatum Grace Hopkins set to play Chloe and Max, respectively, according to an exclusive report from Variety.
It will be a television debut for Hopkins, though she has already been active on stage, including in the Broadway productions “The Queen of Versailles” and “For the Girls.”
On the other hand, Stella is a musician and has acted in ABC music drama “Nashville” and feature films “My Old Ass” and “Poetic License,” among others.
Joining Stella and Hopkins are Tom Cullen, Leisha Hailey, Raúl Castillo, and Owen Teague, as well as Billy Barratt, Emily Carey, Esther McGregor, Faly Rakotohavana and Mia Isaac.
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Adapting games requires ‘thought and care’
The series will tell the same story, but series co-creator Mike Goldberg admitted the same freedom the game gave players to dictate the narrative would have to be shelved, as they needed to choose a “canon” series of events.
“No matter how we skin the cat, we’re going to disappoint people who may have chosen something different,” he said in a recent In the Lab podcast.
“But most games are choice-driven, regardless. Life Is Strange is, of course, much more episodic and multi-choice in nature, [and] that’s always the challenge.”
Goldberg is also the co-founder of Story Kitchen, which will produce the adaptation alongside Square Enix and Margot Robbie’s company Lucky Chap.
He said they tried to explore how they could make the series “rewarding and fresh,” especially for those who have already played the game.
Charlie Covell, known for “Kaos” and “The End Of The F******g World,” has been tapped to serve as executive producer and showrunner.
Goldberg said Covell played through the entire “Life is Strange” franchise and promised fans there was a level of “thought and care” that is being put into the making of the series, “otherwise you shouldn’t do it.”
It’s still quite a long time until its premiere in 2027, but hopefully, the series will be as heartfelt as it was heartbreaking, similar to the games, which ultimately asked:
If you can turn back time, will you change things?
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Vivien Bernardino 
Ren Azrack Escosio 
Maybelene Marcelino