Twisted Metal Live-Action Show Moving Forward with Deadpool Writers

A live-action Twisted Metal TV series is moving forward at Sony’s PlayStation Productions. Variety reports that the adaptation of PlayStation’s brutal destruction derby franchise will be an action comedy, with Zombieland and Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick attached to create the story.

The show will follow a “motor-mouthed outsider who is offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.” He’ll be joined by a “trigger-happy car thief” as the two journey through the dangers of the open road. Sweet Tooth, the face of Twisted Metal and driver of a murderous ice cream truck, is also expected to play some part in the show.

Michael Jonathan Smith, who has written and produced some episodes of Cobra Kai, will serve as writer and executive producer on the Twisted Metal series. PlayStation Studios head Hermen Hulst will also be an executive producer for the show and is joined by PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan. Will Arnett, Marc Forman, and Peter Principato will also be involved as executive producers. Variety debunks speculation that Arnett will voice Sweet Tooth, explaining that its sources say that there is no current deal in place for the actor to cameo as the character.

The Twisted Metal franchise began in 1995 on PlayStation 1, introducing players to the series’s cutthroat car competition and colorful cast of characters. Since then, the series has seen popular releases, such as Twisted Metal: Black in 2001, but largely went dormant after the Twisted Metal reboot in 2012.

PlayStation expressed its desire to push forward with a Twisted Metal show back in 2019 but offered little detail at the time. David Jaffe, one of the creators of the original game series, said back in 2019 that he was not involved in the show, though he would be interested in helping with the project. Today, he confirmed that he is still not involved but is willing to give feedback if PlayStation Productions reaches out.

Twisted Metal isn’t the only PlayStation property to receive the TV show treatment; HBO’s The Last of Us recently cast Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie.